Court reserves ruling on admitting new evidence in Melaka convent land dispute

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today reserved its decision on an application by two Catholic mission organisations to introduce fresh historical evidence in their appeal over ownership of land occupied by the Sacred Heart Canossian Convent in Banda Hilir, Melaka.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Firuz Jaffril said it would deliver its ruling on a date to be fixed after hearing submissions from both parties in what was described as a case of public interest.

Justices Ismail Brahim and Dean Wayne Daly sat with Firuz on the panel.

The application was filed by the Canossian Sisters and the Portuguese Mission, who are appealing against a High Court decision dismissing their judicial review over a parcel of land known as Lot 6.

Lawyer Joy Wilson Appukuttan, assisted by Benjamin John Dawson and Kelvynn Foo, said the organisations had uncovered historical records dating back to 1936 that were unavailable during the High Court proceedings.

Among them was a building application executed by “A.M. Coroado for the Portuguese Mission”, identifying the mission as both the building owner and ground owner of Lot 6 for the construction of a chapel.

The application was approved by the then Malacca municipality.

Appukuttan also relied on maps and building plans from 1934 and 1943, which he said showed that while no chapel stood on Lot 6 in 1934, one had been built there by 1943.

He submitted that the material could have an important bearing on the appeal because it supported the appellants’ claim that they had a pre-existing interest in the land.

Appukuttan said records surfaced only after the High Court delivered its decision, when historians and researchers alerted the appellants to documents discovered at the National Archives in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the nearly century-old records had not been properly catalogued under the Sacred Heart Convent, making them difficult to locate despite earlier searches carried out by the appellants.

Dawson also urged the court to adopt a flexible approach to the admission of fresh evidence, particularly where historical records and matters of public interest are involved.

He said the law requires only reasonable diligence in searching for evidence before trial.

Opposing the application, Melaka state legal adviser Khairul Azreem argued that the appellants had failed to satisfy the requirements for admitting fresh evidence under the Court of Appeal Rules 1994 and the principles laid down in Ladd v Marshall.

He said allowing the application would open the floodgates for parties to seek to introduce new evidence after their cases had already been decided.

The appeal arises from a February 2025 High Court decision dismissing the organisations’ judicial review after finding that they had failed to prove ownership of Lot 6.

In his judgment, Justice Radzi Abdul Hamid held that references to the “Portuguese Convent” referred to the building on the land rather than ownership of the land itself.

He also found that the organisations had failed to establish any legal or beneficial ownership before the current land registration system came into force.