KUALA LUMPUR: The abolishment of the death penalty and reforms to the criminal justice system (CJS) will be discussed in the current Parliament session, says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic).
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Parliament and Law said the mandatory death penalty would be abolished as part of the government’s initiatives to strengthen the CJS while repealing outdated laws.
“In line with the Cabinet’s recent decision, 11 offences that carry the mandatory death penalty and 23 offences that carry the death penalty at the discretion of the judges will be amended during this Parliament session.
“We will also establish a Law Commission that will focus on repealing 147 archaic laws in the country, and the development of appropriate laws to replace them,” he said during the launch of veteran criminal and prosecution lawyer Datuk Dr Baljit Singh Sidhu’s book Criminal Litigation Process (4th Edition) yesterday.
Wan Junaidi said the government would also look into estab lishing an independent Sentencing Council which would be in charge of developing, monitoring and reviewing sentencing guidelines.
“This would promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing, whilst maintaining the independence of the judiciary,” he said.
He added that prison reforms would also be discussed with the goal of executing punishments based on the concept of a restorative justice system to ensure that the rights of all parties involved were protected.
