Draft:Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023

Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023
Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023
Parliament of Malaysia
	Long title An Act to amend the Penal Code, the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, the Arms Act 1960, the Kidnapping Act 1961, the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, the Strategic Trade Act 2010 and the Criminal Procedure Code in order to abolish the mandatory death penalty, to vary the sentence relating to imprisonment for natural life and whipping, and to provide for matters connected therewith. ;
Citation	Act 846
Territorial extent	Throughout Malaysia
Passed by	Dewan Rakyat
Passed	3 April 2023
Passed by	Dewan Negara
Passed	11 April 2023
Royal assent	9 June 2023
Effective	4 July 2023 P.U. (B) 229/2023
Legislative history
First chamber: Dewan Rakyat
Bill citation	D.R. 7/2023
Introduced by	Ramkarpal Singh a/l Karpal Singh - Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms)
First reading	27 March 2023
Second reading	3 April 2023
Third reading	3 April 2023
Second chamber: Dewan Negara
Bill citation	D.R. 7/2023
Member(s) in charge	Ramkarpal Singh a/l Karpal Singh - Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms)
First reading	5 April 2023
Second reading	11 April 2023
Third reading	11 April 2023
Amends
	Penal Code [Act 574]; Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 [Act 37]; Arms Act 1960 [Act 206]; Kidnapping Act 1961 [Act 365]; Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 [Act 234]; Strategic Trade Act 2010 [Act 708]; Criminal Procedure Code [Act 593]
Related legislation
	Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023
Keywords
	Capital punishment, Death Penalty, Life imprisonment
	Status: In force

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Last edited by Wolfiewhite (talk | contribs) 10 days ago. (Update)

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The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 (Malay: Akta Pemansuhan Hukuman Mati Mandatori 2023), is a Malaysian law which was enacted by the Parliament of Malaysia to abolish the mandatory death penalty and imprisonment for natural life in Malaysia.

However, the death penalty will still remain as a possible punishment under Malaysia's criminal law and this Act does not equal to total abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Before the commencement of this Act on 3 July 2023, there are a total of 11 criminal offences under Malaysian law that carried the mandatory death penalty such as murder, drug trafficking, acts of terrorism, and waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.^[5]^[4] If one is found guilty under one of such criminal offences, the only punishment available to the judge by law is the death penalty.^[6] The judge has no other choice but to sentence the accused to death, unless the accused is a pregnant women as defined by the Criminal Procedure Code, or a child as defined by the Child Act 2001.^[7]

With the introduction of this Act, the judges can now act in their own discretion to decide to whether sentence one to:

Death, or;
Imprisonment for a term of 30 to 40 years and not less than 12 strokes of whipping.

— on a case-by-case basis.^[5]^[8]

This Act also abolished all imprisonment for natural life under Malaysian law and replaced it with imprisonment for a term of not less than 30 years but not more than 40 years.^[3]^[4]^[5]

It should be noted that under Malaysian criminal laws, "imprisonment for natural life" refers to imprisonment until the natural death of the convicts, while "imprisonment for life", unless otherwise stated, refers to 30 years imprisonment as defined by the Criminal Justice Act 1953.^[9]^[10] This Act seeks to abolish "imprisonment for natural life", not "imprisonment for life".

Background

Before the abolition of mandatory death penalty in Malaysia by this Act, there are a total of 33 criminal offences under nine Malaysian laws that are punishable by death, and among them there are 12 offences that carried the mandatory death penalty.^[4]^[11]

During the 14th General Election of Malaysia in 2018, Pakatan Harapan, the main opposition coalition at the time, has in its official manifesto promised to abolish "Mandatory death by hanging in all Acts" among a few other Malaysian laws that Pakatan Harapan deem oppresive in nature.^[12]^[13] Pakatan Harapan eventually defeated the Barisan Nasional government in the general election and resulted in the change of government for the first time in Malaysia's history.

Statutory Provision

This Act has amended 7 other Malaysian laws that contain mandatory death penalty and imprisonment for natural life, which are namely the Penal Code, Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, Arms Act 1960, Kidnapping Act 1961, Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, Strategic Trade Act 2010, and Criminal Procedure Code.

The 7 aforementioned laws are amended by this Act in the manners as follows:

Penal Code

Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971

Arms Act 1960

Kidnapping Act 1961

Dangerous Drugs Act 1952

Strategic Trade Act 2010

Criminal Procedure Code

Reception

References

^ Muhammad Yusry (July 3, 2023). "Abolishment of mandatory death penalty gazetted, to come into force tomorrow". Malay Mail. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
^ "Death Penalty Still Exists in Malaysian Law, only Mandatory Death Penalty to be Abolished". BERNAMA. 13 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Malaysia Repeals Mandatory Death Penalty". Human Rights Watch. 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Reforms of Mandatory Death Penalty in Malaysia: What Do The Bills Say?" (PDF). Amnesty Malaysia. 29 March 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tee, Kenneth (3 April 2023). "A brief history of Malaysia's capital punishment and death row inmates". Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Mokhtar, Nor Azizah (13 June 2022). "Understand the concept of mandatory death penalty first - Musa Hassan". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Mallow, Muzaffar Syah (15 June 2022). "Mandatory death penalty still relevant". The Sun Daily. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Mohd Razhi, Nor Fariza; Sevagamy, N. (17 December 2023). "Year 2023 Creates Historic Success for M'sia in Sulu Case, Death Penalty Review". BERNAMA. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ Dusuki, Farah Nini; Hamid, Melati Abdul (2023), van Zyl Smit, Dirk; Appleton, Catherine; Vucong, Giao (eds.), "Life Imprisonment in Malaysia: Prospects for Law Reform?", Life Imprisonment in Asia, Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 225–241, doi:10.1007/978-981-19-4664-6_9, ISBN 978-981-19-4664-6, retrieved 2024-09-10
^ "Malaysia passes sweeping legal reforms to remove the mandatory death penalty". ABC News. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ "Fatally flawed: Why Malaysia must abolish the death penalty". Amnesty International. Amnesty International Ltd. 10 October 2019. p. 13, 48-51. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ "Buku Harapan: Rebuilding Our Nation, Fulfilling Our Hopes" (PDF). DAP Malaysia. 8 March 2018. p. 61. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
^ "What you need to know about Pakatan's GE14 manifesto". Malay Mail. 10 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

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[1] Muhammad Yusry (July 3, 2023). "Abolishment of mandatory death penalty gazetted, to come into force tomorrow". Malay Mail. Retrieved June 5, 2024.

[2] "Death Penalty Still Exists in Malaysian Law, only Mandatory Death Penalty to be Abolished". BERNAMA. 13 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[:0-3] "Malaysia Repeals Mandatory Death Penalty". Human Rights Watch. 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[:02-4] "Reforms of Mandatory Death Penalty in Malaysia: What Do The Bills Say?" (PDF). Amnesty Malaysia. 29 March 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2024.

[:1-5] Tee, Kenneth (3 April 2023). "A brief history of Malaysia's capital punishment and death row inmates". Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[6] Mokhtar, Nor Azizah (13 June 2022). "Understand the concept of mandatory death penalty first - Musa Hassan". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[7] Mallow, Muzaffar Syah (15 June 2022). "Mandatory death penalty still relevant". The Sun Daily. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[8] Mohd Razhi, Nor Fariza; Sevagamy, N. (17 December 2023). "Year 2023 Creates Historic Success for M'sia in Sulu Case, Death Penalty Review". BERNAMA. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[9] Dusuki, Farah Nini; Hamid, Melati Abdul (2023), van Zyl Smit, Dirk; Appleton, Catherine; Vucong, Giao (eds.), "Life Imprisonment in Malaysia: Prospects for Law Reform?", Life Imprisonment in Asia, Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 225–241, doi:10.1007/978-981-19-4664-6_9, ISBN 978-981-19-4664-6, retrieved 2024-09-10

[10] "Malaysia passes sweeping legal reforms to remove the mandatory death penalty". ABC News. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[11] "Fatally flawed: Why Malaysia must abolish the death penalty". Amnesty International. Amnesty International Ltd. 10 October 2019. p. 13, 48-51. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[12] "Buku Harapan: Rebuilding Our Nation, Fulfilling Our Hopes" (PDF). DAP Malaysia. 8 March 2018. p. 61. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

[13] "What you need to know about Pakatan's GE14 manifesto". Malay Mail. 10 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

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