Capital punishment in malaysia pdf

In the United States of America, only four forms of execution are sanctioned, and they are hanging, shooting, electrocution and gaseous asphyxiation. In England and many other countries, hanging still ranks as the main method of execution.

Hanging is, in fact, the oldest form of capital punishment4. It displays the victim to the public in the most discreditable and degraded of postures and would thus be likely to enhance the deterrent effect of this punishment on anyone who might be tempted to do what the victim had done.

However, now that most executions are done within prison perimeters and closed to the public, as is done in prisons in Malaysia, few have the chance of witnessing such executions apart from those involved with the executions. A Centuries ago in England and Europe, a person found guilty of theft of even an apple, could be, and often was, sentenced to death.

In fact, the death penalty was decreed for several hundreds of offences mostly against property and person. Fortunately, the harshness of the law on petty offences gradually diminished over the years and today only the most serious offences warrant the death penalty. This issue is not definite and is rather subjective as it varies from country to country.

A crime that may justify the death penalty in one country may not in another. As it is beyond the scope of this paper to look into the details of the various types of such offences in every legal system, a simple study will be made in general, with particular attention to Malaysia. In Japan, murder and parricide warrant the death sentence. In the United States of America, many offences other than first degree murder are punishable with death. Among these are lynching, arson, train robbery, killing a woman by abortion, supplying heroin to a minor and even desecration of a grave.

Despite all these offences, the death penalty has not been inflicted on these crimes in recent times. Since , capital punishment has been inflicted for only seven types of offences:. History was made recently when, on 10 March killer Stephen Judy was executed in Indiana by electrocution for the murder of a young woman and her three small children.

Judy became the fourth person to be executed in the United States of America since the U. Supreme Court revived the death penalty in and the first person to be executed in Indiana in twenty years. In England, murder as defined by the Homicide Act , s. As such, the punishment for murder today is life imprisonment. As of date, the only capital offences are treason, as provided for by the Treason Act which amended the Treason Act , and an act endangering life committed in connection with or in furtherance of piracy Piracy Act , s.

The punishment for treason is hanging unless the Crown sees fit to alter the sentence to beheading Treason Act ; Forfeiture Act , s. Many communist countries consider the following capital offences punishable with death:. Apart from these, there are many other offences that carry the death penalty. Most countries have separate laws for their military. Normally, in such laws, treason, espionage, sabotage, looting, desertion, etc. In Malaysia, there are quite a number of offences which carry the death sentence.

The offences in these Acts will be dealt with in some detail. Penal Code — It is provided in the Penal Code that the death penalty may be imposed for the following offences:. Section — Abetment of mutiny, if mutiny is committed in consequence thereof. Section — Giving or fabricating false evidence and procuring a conviction and execution for innocent man of a capital offence or such false evidence.

Section — Punishment for murder death is the only penalty. Section — Abetment of suicide of a child or an insane person. Section — Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder. This Act has provisions that make death the sentence under three sections, namely s. The death penalty is mandatory upon conviction of an offence under s. In view of the increase in recent years in the illegal trafficking of dangerous drugs like heroin and morphine within and without the country, the Government has amended the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance several times.

In one such amendment, the Dangerous Drugs Amendment Act A of , the death penalty was introduced into the Ordinance by virtue of s. It is of interest to note that in Singapore, the Misuse of Drugs Act also carry the dealt sentence for illegal drug trafficking. A recent case where ss. PP [] 2 MLJ In this case, the appellant was convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court for the unauthorised trafficking in a controlled drug diamorphine.

Section 3 — Penalty for discharging a firearm in the commission of a scheduled offence;. Section 3A — Penalty for accomplices in case of discharge of firearm;.

The death penalty is mandatory on conviction of offences under ss. Section 3 1 of the Act provides that abduction, wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement of a person for ransom shall be punished on conviction with death or life imprisonment. Penalty for manufacturing arms or ammunition without licence and for breach of conditions of licence. The following two tables show the number of persons convicted of capital offences under the above mentioned laws in Malaysia and the number of persons who were in fact executed over a ten-year period from till todate.

Total 30 9 69 15 Total 11 2 17 1 In Malaysia, the method of execution is clearly defined and set out in s. This has been, and still is, the practice today to execute condemned persons. The Criminal Procedure Code provides for an exception to a class of persons who cannot be sentenced to death. By virtue of s. Up to , it was thought that by virtue of the provisions of ss.

Section 82 of the Penal Code provides for the age of criminal responsibility of a child i. Section 83 further provides that nothing is an offence which is done by a child above 10 years of age and under 12, who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequence of his conduct on that occasion. However, legal history was created in the case of Lim Hang Seoh v. This case, no doubt, created quite a stir and reaction among the legal fraternity and the public as well.

On appeal, the sentence was upheld by the Federal Court. However, the sentence was finally commuted and the offender sent to the Henry Gurney School. This case clearly shows that juveniles are on an equal footing with adult offenders where capital punishment is involved. The question whether or not the death penalty should be abolished must be as old as the legal systems that have the death penalty as a punishment, and right up to today, this question is still being raised and whenever raised, it will, no doubt, spark off a lively and emotional debate as to whether the death penalty should finally be removed from the statute books.

The death penalty can be defended or criticized on grounds of either justice or utility. Abolitionists, on the other hand, will argue that human life is sacred and may never be taken deliberately, even by the State. Further, society ought not to encourage sentiments of vengeance or cater to morbid interest in ritual executions! However, this issue is becoming an antiquity and of academic interest only in the many countries that have already abolished the death penalty.

In Australia, the State of Queensland abolished capital punishment in and in New South Wales, it has been abolished for murder in In the United States of America, many states have abolished the death penalty. Among them are Maine ; , Alaska Hawaii and Michigan In Europe, the death penalty is applied in many countries of eastern Europe and the Balkans, but it has been substantially abolished in all of western Europe except France, Greece and Spain.

It is retained in Canada. As for Asian and African countries, as at , the death penalty remains as a form of punishment except for Israel which abolished capital punishment in except for offences of treason and Nazi collaboration. Nepal abolished the death penalty in In view of the many countries that have abolished the death penalty, the issue that other countries in the free world should follow suit, commands real attention. Those who argue against abolition will highlight the pros of the death penalty while those who advocate abolition will highlight the ugliness of capital punishment.

In brief, people are believed to refrain from crime because they fear punishment. Since people fear death more than anything else, the death penalty is the most effective deterrent, so runs the argument. The point has often been made that it is not so much the legal existence of the death penalty that deters potential murderers, but rather the certainty of its being used.

In fact, a common criticism of the death penalty is that juries do not convict readily if the punishment is death, thereby reducing the certainty of punishment, and, in consequence, its deterrent value. One of the most common arguments advanced against the death penalty is that it is not a superior deterrent to potential homicide offenders, as compared to alternative punishments. While no one has conclusively proven that the death penalty has greater deterrent effectiveness than alternative punishments, neither has it been shown that the death penalty is not a superior deterrent to homicide.

The supporters of capital punishment will rigidly maintain that it has a unique power to deter others from committing crimes. Capital punishment is also considered the just retribution to heinous crimes like murder and rape. In the final analysis, the case against the abolition of the death penalty lies on one paramount singular reason that death is the most potent deterrent to would be offenders. For in words of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen supra :.

No other punishment deters men so effectually from committing crimes as the punishment of death. It was largely on the grounds of this sort that the death penalty was recently restored in New Zealand and after a ten — year period of abolition. In the controversy over capital punishment that has persisted throughout the civilized world since the eighteenth century, the arguments have generally been of two sorts. Abolitionists have frequently pointed out the irrevocable nature of the death penalty which prevents the State from justifying miscarriages of justice in cases of conviction of the innocent.

Retentionists, on the other hand, have urged that the death penalty is essential because of its deterrent consequences. It should be noted, however, that the crucial issue is not whether any deterrent potential can fairly be ascribed to the death penalty but whether capital punishment posesses a deterrent efficacy lacking in rather less drastic, non-lethal punishments suitable to the State when maintaining law and order.

In the United States in , public opinion supported utilisation of the death penalty. Objection to the utilisation of the death penalty on the grounds that offenders can be rehabilitated is also without basis.

Retentionists argue that rehabilitation does not work, but that we have continued to believe that it can use it is more pleasant to believe that we are rehabilitating than it is to know we are punishing!

The fact that the death penalty is irreversible has also been cited by some as an argument against its use. They claim that, since it is possible for an innocent person to be executed, it is better not to execute anyone. The chances of executing an innocent person, however, are extremely slim. It has been argued by retentionists that the risks of not executing are greater than the risk of executing. In 10 December , the Law Minister had announced that an anticipated proposal on alternatives to the death penalty will be submitted in January , allowing judges a discretion in certain serious crimes.

The idea behind capital punishment in Malaysia arose from a mix between the common law system that Malaysia inherited during their period of British colonisation, as British Malaya , and the authorisation of capital punishment in Islam. In , Malaysia carried out nine executions, imposed 36 death sentences, and two death sentences were commuted.

Malaysia was also reported to have 1, death row inmates, including foreign nationals. On 10 October , Liew Vui Keong , the minister in charge of law in the Prime Minister's Department , announced that the Malaysian Government would abolish the death penalty. A proposed bill is expected to be tabled at the next sitting of Parliament. The minister also announced that the Government had imposed a moratorium on all executions until the passage of the new law. The current Pakatan Harapan government had campaigned on reviewing capital punishment and other "unsuitable" national security laws during the Malaysian general election.

In March , the government announced its decision to retain the death penalty, although it was announced that, despite the death penalty being retained as an official punishment in Malaysia, it will no longer be used as a mandatory punishment.

On 13 July , Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong disclosed that a Bill to abolish mandatory death penalty is expected to be tabled in Parliament in October once the government decides on appropriate prison terms for 11 serious crime it covers.

The following is a list of the criminal offences that carry the death penalty: [17]. Only High Courts had jurisdiction in capital cases. Appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court are automatic. The last resort for the convicted is to plead pardon for clemency.

Pardons or clemency were granted by the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri Governor of the state where the crime was committed or the Yang di-Pertuan Agong if the crime was committed in the Federal Territories or when involving members of the armed forces.

Death sentences were carried out by hanging as provided in Section of the Criminal Procedure Code. Pregnant women and minors may not be sentenced to death. In lieu of the death penalty, women pregnant at the time of sentencing would have their sentences reduced to life imprisonment [18] as provided by Section of the Criminal Procedure Code, while juvenile offenders would be detained at the pleasure of the Ruler, Governor or Yang di-Pertuan Agong depending on where the crime was committed as provided by the Child Act The death penalty for drug trafficking was made mandatory in The main reason for this was because drug trafficking was seen as one of the national challenges of the country.

Since then, there has been a relaxation on this rule as death penalties may sometimes be substituted with a lighter sentence which includes mandatory whippings, forced rehabilitation or preventive detention. The presumption is that a person would be considered to be trafficking drugs if they were in possession of a certain amount of dangerous drugs.

The courts though have noted the severity of the sentence and in several instances have tried to impose a lower sentence where possible. One of the methods employed by the court would be to ensure that the procedures set out for the sentence have been strictly adhered to by the prosecution.

The court has also acquitted a person when the reported amount of drugs seized was only slightly different from the amount of drugs received by the forensics lab chemist. There have also been suggestions by those in the executive for a re-appeal of the death sentence for drug trafficking. The Law Minister in held that the government may replace the death sentence with an imprisonment term instead in recognition that such a sentence only punishes the drug mules and not those higher up in the chain.

The abolition of the death penalty has started to gain momentum in Malaysia. The government has started to consider more humane ways to "uphold the justice for the people. It was found that although a substantive portion of the public would agree for the death penalty in cases of murder, drug trafficking or firearms offences, this number took a considerable drop once the participants were told about the various scenarios which merited capital punishment as defined in the relevant statute.

Creators Email Ismail, Khairul Anuar Thesis advisor Abu Hanifah, Norha Ass. Social and public welfare. Comparative and uniform law. International uniform Law.