PETALING JAYA: The abolition of the mandatory death penalty is just the first step towards seeing severe punishments being reduced across the board, says the de facto law minister.
Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said it could be described as an overhaul of the country’s criminal justice system.
He said Putrajaya’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty was also unprecedented, going against the grain of increasing punishments over the past four decades.
“We are not increasing the severity of punishment as we have done in the last 40 years, where every time we amended a law, we increased the severity of the punishment.
“In this case, we are reducing the severity of the punishment, and it is up to the courts to decide whether or not to impose the death penalty,” Wan Junaidi told The Star yesterday.
With this decision, Wan Junaidi said his ministry will conduct a study on giving the courts the discretion to impose alternative sentences instead of sending offenders to the gallows.
“We have to study several things. My request to the government is to let my ministry and the Attorney General’s Chambers sit down and implement details of the government’s policy.
“Later on, we will submit a Cabinet memorandum for the government’s approval of alternative sentences for all offences, not just the death penalty.
“So, this is practically overhauling the criminal law system in Malaysia,” said the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law).
Wan Junaidi gave his assurance that all stakeholders, including NGOs and lawyers, will be consulted over the new policy to reduce punishments.
“We will do internal studies first. In fact, many volunteers, politicians, and experienced lawyers are willing to render support and assist me in my work. I’m grateful to all these people,” he added.
The death sentence is handed down for 33 offences – including murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping, possession of firearm and terrorism – 11 of which carry the mandatory death sentence.
Yesterday, Wan Junaidi said in a statement that the Cabinet had agreed to review the 11 offences carrying the mandatory death penalty, as well as the one offence under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234) and 22 other offences that allow the death penalty at the discretion of the court.
In BERA, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob noted that the death penalty will remain and not be abolished, and the change is only on the fact that judges are now given discretion in sentencing.
Ismail Sabri said with the decision, the “mandatory” part will be removed and judges will no longer be bound by the word (mandatory) which had left them with no choice but to impose the death penalty on criminal offenders as provided by law, such as in drug trafficking cases.
“We are of the view that everyone deserves a second chance. If there are two options (of sentences), and if the offender is found to be a hardcore drug trafficker to the extent of causing hundreds of thousands of people to die (due to drugs), he can be sentenced to death and allowed to be sent to the gallows.
“However, if the judge, in his discretion, feels that the offender should be given a second chance and decides to sentence him to life imprisonment with whipping, he can substitute the mandatory death penalty with that life sentence,” he said when met officiating the Peninsular Malaysia Orang Asli Association’s annual general meeting.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said the mandatory death penalty abolition was an important step forward.
“But, before everyone starts cheering, we need to see Malaysia pass the actual legislative amendments to put this pledge into effect because we have been down this road before, with successive Malaysian governments promising much on human rights, but delivering very little,” he said.
Robertson added that he is also wary about the government’s decision to abolish the death penalty.
“Hopefully, Malaysia will do the right thing by immediately implementing this pledge to do away with the mandatory death penalty,” he said.
Former Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Jerald Joseph said the death penalty has proven to be ineffective at deterring crime.
“We need to move towards effective policing and cleaning up enforcement, so we can stop criminality at its starting point.
“For perpetrators of serious crimes ... we can always look at long-term sentences, such as life imprisonment. Justice can be served without using the death penalty,” he added.
In 2018, the then Pakatan Harapan government worked on a Bill to abolish the death penalty and came up with alternatives, but the administration collapsed before the Bill could be tabled.
In January, it was reported that the government would decide on recommendations by a committee chaired by former chief justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, with the report to be brought to the Cabinet.
As at February this year, there were 1,341 inmates on death row, 835 of whom are Malaysians and 506 foreigners.
