Abolish mandatory death penalty: Bar associations
Published on: Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysian Bar, Advocates' Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Association are glad that Attorney General Tan Sri Dato' Sri Mohamed Apandi will propose to the Cabinet that the mandatory death penalty for drug-related offences be abolished. The three Bar associations of Malaysia also welcome Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri's reported statement that she hopes to table legislative amendments next year for such abolition."There is great wisdom in leaving the decision on punishment for such offences to the discretion of the Judiciary.
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By abolishing the mandatory death penalty, the judiciary will have the discretion to sentence a convicted person to either death or imprisonment. However, concrete action on this issue is long overdue," they said in a statement. At the recent meeting held in conjunction with the Tripartite Bar Games in Miri, the Malaysian Bar, Advocates' Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Association resolved to jointly urge the Government to give real meaning to the statements it has made, on at least four other occasions over the last five years, regarding its willingness to review the mandatory death penalty. It has been two years since the Government and the Attorney General's Chambers informed those present at a dialogue, with Members of Parliament on discretionary sentencing for capital punishment on 14 November 2013, that they were in the midst of such a review. Sentencing is part of the cardinal principle of judicial independence, and should always be left to our Judges.
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Judges use their experience in hearing cases, take into account the peculiar facts and circumstances of each case, and consider the case comprehensively before meting out punishment. Apart from serious questions relating to the efficacy and effectiveness of mandatory death sentences as a means of deterrence, the resort to mandatory sentences is an unnecessary fetter on judicial discretion, and an unwarranted impediment to the administration of justice.
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They said the mandatory death penalty, including for drug-related offences, has no place in a society that values human life, justice and mercy. The abolition of this extreme, degrading and inhumane form of punishment is consonant with the belief that every individual has an inherent right to life. This right is absolute, universal and inalienable, irrespective of any crimes that may have been committed. It added, moreover, there appears to be no significant reduction in the crimes for which the death penalty is currently mandatory. "The Government should, in the interest of justice, declare and implement an immediate official moratorium on any and all executions in such cases. "All of these sentences should be stayed pending the results of the review. It is unfair and unjust to carry out the death sentence when there is currently a possibility of reform which, if effected, should apply retrospectively."On a related matter, the three also expressed concern over the case of Kho Jabing, a Sarawakian currently on death row in Singapore. The Singapore courts had initially imposed the mandatory death penalty on him, for murder. However, pursuant to amendments to the law in Singapore that abolished the mandatory death penalty for murder (with retrospective effect), he was resentenced by the High Court to life imprisonment and whipping (24 strokes). The prosecution appealed, and the Court of Appeal, by a slim 3-2 majority, reinstated the death penalty.Kho Jabing was scheduled to be executed on Nov 6 after his petition to the President of Singapore for clemency failed. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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