The civil suit that the family of slain Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu filed against her killers nearly a decade ago has hit a brick wall, following the Foreign Ministry's seeming refusal to cooperate.

According to a lawyer representing the family, the ministry has not responded to their request that it help deliver court documents to Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, who is being detained at the Villawood detention centre in Sydney, Australia.

Ram Karpal Singh, who is also Bukit Gelugor MP, said the court requires that the amended suit be served on Sirul as one of the respondents, and this has to be done through the Malaysian High Commission in Australia and the Foreign Ministry.

"However, after submitting the papers after almost a year there has not been any response from the ministry," he said, when met at the Kuala Lumpur court complex today.

Ram questioned whether the ministry had a hidden agenda in not replying to the law firm or passing the documents to Sirul.

He said the firm would will have to find ways to serve the documents itself, without having to go through the Malaysian High Commission.

"The court has voiced concern as this is an old case, which started back last year following the verdict by the Federal Court," he said.

Ram said the High Court in Shah Alam had fixed Sept 27 for case management, and he would have to inform the court of their progress in serving the papers to Sirul.

There is a possibility that trial dates will be fixed as the matter has been fixed before Justice Ahmad Nasfy Yasin. Initially, the case was fixed before Justice Suraya Othman.

Altantuya's parents, Shaariibuu Setev and Altantsetseg Sanjaa, and her two sons, Mungunshagai Bayarjargal and Altanshagai Munkhtulga, reportedly filed the suit on June 4, 2007.

They named Special Action Unit officers Azilah Hadri and Sirul, political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda and the Malaysian government as defendants.

Abdul Razak was charged with conspiring with Azilah and Sirul to kill Altantuya, 28, in 2006. He was acquitted of the charge in October 2008 without having to enter his defence, while Azilah and Sirul were found guilty in 2009.

On Aug 23, 2013, the Court of Appeal allowed Azilah and Sirul 's appeal and acquitted them of the charge.

However, on Jan 13, 2015, the Federal Court allowed the prosecution's appeal and set aside the Court of Appeal's decision. It found Sirul and Azilah guilty and sentenced them to death by hanging.

Sirul fled to Australia before the verdict was announced. The country said it would not approve any request to extradite him unless Malaysian authorities guarantee he would not face execution.