Procedures
1908 Code of Civil Procedure with limited access to functioning courts
Civil litigation runs on the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, inherited from British India, with written pleadings, framed issues and judge-led trial. Since 2021 access to reliable adjudication has been the binding constraint rather than the procedural rules.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Township courts hear smaller claims, district courts larger ones, with appeals to regional High Courts and the Supreme Court of the Union.
Governing law
- Code of Civil Procedure1908
- Limitation Act1908
- Arbitration Law2016
In practice
Limitation follows the 1908 Act: generally three years for contract and tort, twelve years for suits to recover immovable property. Execution of decrees is through attachment and sale under Order XXI, and delays are long. The Arbitration Law 2016 brought Myanmar into line with the UNCITRAL Model Law after accession to the New York Convention in 2013, making foreign awards enforceable in principle, though there is little reported practice testing it. Foreign judgments are enforceable only from reciprocating territories under section 44A. In current conditions most commercial parties provide for offshore arbitration in Singapore and treat Myanmar court enforcement as a last resort.