No date yet for revision of death penalty and life imprisonment cases

PETALING JAYA: Despite the abolition of mandatory death penalty coming into effect from Tuesday (July 4), death row prisoners whose sentences are pending revision would not have their cases heard so soon.

A date has yet to be set for the revision to be carried out, said Deputy Minister in charge of Law and Institutional Reforms, Ramkarpal Singh.

In a statement, Ramkarpal said that Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said had yet to set a date for the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction Of The Federal Court) Act 2023 (Act 847) to be in operation.

Only after such a date has been gazetted can Act 847 come into operation although it has received royal consent and was gazetted on June 16, he added.

“Once Act 847 was passed by Parliament in April, the government through the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department have conducted a series of engagements involving the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), Prisons Department, Health Ministry, Bar Council, National Legal Aid Foundation and the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of Malaysia.

"(Discussions involved) the mechanism and guidelines to implement the revision of death penalties and life imprisonment. Details of the mechanism and guidelines will be made known in the near future,” he added.

Act 847 was expected to allow the court to revise the sentences of 840 death row inmates and 25 others who had failed in their appeal for clemency to the Pardons Board.

A total of 476 death row inmates, who have yet to exhaust their appeal process in court, will also be covered by the law.

The Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 (Act 846) came into force Tuesday.

According to the Federal Government Gazette dated June 30 published by the AGC, the date for the law coming into force was fixed by Azalina.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by subsection 1(2) of Act 846, the minister selects July 4, 2023 as the date on which the Act comes into operation,” the gazette stated.

On April 3, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Act, which aims to abolish the mandatory death penalty, to vary the sentence relating to imprisonment for natural life and whipping.

Under the Act, the court now has the discretion to impose the death penalty or imprisonment for a period of not less than 30 years, but not exceeding 40 years; and if not sentenced to death, guilty parties shall also be punished with whipping of no fewer than 12 strokes.