What’s in this article
- Statutory Declaration in Malaysia
- When is a Statutory Declaration Used in Malaysia?
- The Significance of a Statutory Declaration
- Statutory Declaration in Other Countries
- How to Word the Statutory Declaration?
- Is it Possible to Make Statutory Declaration in Malaysia Amid the Covid-19 situation?
- ENGAGE CORPORATE SERVICES WITH REGIONAL EXPERTS
- FAQs
While requesting the appointed Company Secretary to certify true copy (CTC) of some business-related documents, getting a statutory declaration is also one of the common practices amongst business owners who set up their business entities in Malaysia.
Statutory Declaration in Malaysia
As per the Statutory Declaration Act 1960, a statutory declaration is a formal statement made by an individual as a supporting document required by the regulation. It will be signed in the presence of a solicitor, commissioner of oath or a notary public.
Such statements are generally used to satisfy legal requirements as well as regulations when no physical evidence is available at that point of time. Hence, the statutory declaration is required to be truthful and accurate.
When is a Statutory Declaration Used in Malaysia?
In Malaysia, a statutory declaration is used to finalise a Company financial statement before it is lodged to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM). Other situations of when statutory declarations are used include:
- Director of a Company changed his birth name by legally adopting their name and use it on personal documents such as passports and driving licenses. Such documents must have statutory declaration to support its validity.
- Executors of a will
- Declaration of nationality or marital status when the document is missing or unable to retrieve
- Director of a Company to declare solvency when opting for voluntary liquidation
The Significance of a Statutory Declaration
As stated above, the law which governs the statutory declaration in Malaysia is the Statutory Declaration Act 1960. The Act requires those documents with Statutory Declaration to be sworn or declared its truth and accuracy, with no elements of misrepresentation.
Pursuant to Section 2 of Statutory Declaration Act 1960, those who may take and receive such declaration from a person voluntarily making such declaration is the Notary Public or Commissioner of Oath. The person will be charged of a fee for engaging such service.
Pursuant to Section 3 of Statutory Declaration Act 1960, those who make false declarations will be penalised if caught.
Statutory Declaration in Other Countries
For foreign directors who wish to sign off their Malaysian registered Company financial statement and is not in Malaysia on the signing date, they are required to have the statutory declaration section signed by the Notary Public in the country he is residing at that time.
| CURRENT LIST | 2001 LIST | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Country Name | Laws | Laws |
| 1. | Austria | Notariatsordnung | |
| 2. | Australia | Statutory Declarations Act 1959 | Statutory Declarations Act 1959 |
| 3. | Bahamas | Notaries Public Act (Chapter 45 of Statute Law of Bahamas) | The Notaries Public Act & Chapter 45 of Statute Law of Bahamas 1987 |
| 4. | Bahrain | Legislative Decree No. 19 of the Year 2001 with respect to Promulgating the Civil Code | |
| 5. | Belize | Oaths Act (Chapter 130) (Chapter 45 of Statute Law of Bahamas) | |
| 6. | Brunei | Oaths & Affirmations Act (Cap. 3) | |
| 7. | Canada | Canada Evidence Act (Chap C-5) | Evidence Act |
| 8. | Columbia | Decree 960 of 1970 | |
| 9. | Demark | The Executive order for the Notary Public (Notarialbekendtgørelsen) Law nr 515 of 6/6-2007 and nr 1555 (18/12-2007) Document AA004050 under Department of Justice of Denmark |
|
| 10. | France | Article 1317 of the Civil Procedures Code, ordonnance de 2 November 1945 | |
| 11. | Ghana | Statutory Declaration Act No. 389 of 1971 | |
| 12. | Hong Kong | Oaths and Declarations Ordinance (Cap 11) | Oaths and Declarations Ordinance Chapter 11 of Laws of Hong Kong |
| 13. | India | Notaries Act 1952 | India Notary Act 1952 |
| 14. | Indonesia | Private Limited Regulation Act 1995 | |
| 15. | Ireland | Statutory Declarations Act 1938 | |
| 16. | Italy | The Notarial Law (Law No. 89 of 16 February 1913) | |
| 17. | Japan | Notary Law 1908 | Law of Notary Public Japan 1908 |
| 18. | Malaysia | Statutory Declarations Act 1960 | Statutory Declarations Act 1960 |
| 19. | Netherlands | Eedswet 1971 | Eedswet 1971 |
| 20. | New Zealand | Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 | Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 |
| 21. | Norway | 17 Norway LOV-002-04-26-12 Law on Notary Public (lov om Notarius Publicus) | |
| 22. | Pakistan | Oath Act 1873 | |
| 23. | Singapore | Oaths and Declarations Act (Cap 211) | Oaths and Declarations Act 2000 |
| 24. | South Korea | Notary Public Act 1962 | |
| 25. | Spanish | Law of the Profession of Notary (Law of 28 of May of 1862) | |
| 26. | Taiwan | Notarization Law | |
| 27. | Thailand | Thai Notarial Services Attorneys (no notary public) | |
| 28. | United Kingdom | Statutory Declarations Act 1835 | Statutory Declarations Act 1835 |
| USA: | |||
| 29. | Alabama | The Code of Alabama 1975 | |
| 30. | Florida | Chapter 117, Florida Statutes | |
| 31. | State of California | California Government Code | Chapter 3, 8200 et seq |
| 32. | Washington | Revised Code of Washington, RCW 42.44 | |
| 33. | West Virginia | Uniform Notary Act (Chapter 29C) | |
How to Word the Statutory Declaration?
Normally, the commissioner of oath or notary public will furnish a printed letter to the declarer to fill. This will be titled the statutory declaration form.
However, there are cases where the declarer is required to write the declaration themselves in front of the commissioner of oath or notary public.
In such situation, the statutory declaration must contain the words below. This provides a sample of the statutory declaration in Malaysia. There is no specific statutory declaration form in Malaysia, but the template to write a statutory declaration is below.
Sample of Statutory Declaration Form in Malaysia
I, (name)(NRIC/ID No.:) of (residential address) do solemnly and sincerely declare that …..
And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the declaration to be true and by virtue of the Statutory Declaration Act, 1960.
Affirmed by: (Name)
At: (Place)
On: (Date and time)
Before me,
Commissioner of Oaths
Is it Possible to Make Statutory Declaration in Malaysia Amid the Covid-19 situation?
It is known that we are not living in the same situation as we did before the pandemic outbreak. Even though the strict standard operation (SOP) is to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, but it does not make things easier for those who urgently need to engage some legal advisory and services.
As stated, statutory declaration in Malaysia is required for the certification of certain Company / business related documents to be lodged with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM). The fact that such occurrence will need both parties, the client and the appointed notary public or commissioner of oath to be physically present to conduct such act raise concern.
To mitigate such situation, one of the options available for the statutory declaration in Malaysia to be executed is by conducting a video conference call. However, as Covid-19 is slowly labelled as an endemic, the firms have started appointment basis for clients who wish to get their statutory declaration done.
FAQs
The declarant will be fine and punishable by up to five years in prison if found guilty to declare false information in a Statutory Declaration.
It can be done by an appointed notary public, commissioner of oath or magistrate.
According to Statutory Declaration Act 1960, only an authorised person by the law such as notary public, commissioner of oath or magistrate can be the witness of a statutory declaration done.
The purpose of statutory declaration is to obtain confirmation of written instruments or allegations or proof of debt or the fact of execution of deed which was otherwise unavailable but backed by penal sanctions.
