Govt getting feedback on abolition of mandatory death penalty

PETALING JAYA: Engagement process will begin soon to get feedback on the abolition of the mandatory death penalty, said Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.

This comes following plans to table proposed amendments in Dewan Rakyat this coming October to do away with such penalties.

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“The government has agreed in principle with the proposal to abolish the mandatory death penalty following a report on a study on the matter which was tabled in Cabinet on June 8,” the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) said in a statement on Friday (June 24).

Mas Ermieyati said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar held a meeting with Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun on Monday (June 20) on the matter.

“The AG’s Department and the ministry’s Legal Affairs Division have been tasked with studying and scrutinising the recommendations, including the draft Bill on related amendments which is to be prepared by the AG’s Department,” she added.

She said that the engagement process with interest groups would begin soon.

“It will involve getting further views from academicians and Dewan Rakyat members on the matter before the Bill is tabled in Parliament in October,” she added.

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On Monday (June 8), Wan Junaidi, who is charge of Parliament and Law, said the abolition of the death penalty could become law as early as January next year if the proposed Bill is passed by Dewan Negara by December after getting the approval from the lower House.

There are currently 1,342 convicts who are currently on death row in the country.

Apart from the abolition of the mandatory death penalty, a tribunal will be set up to resolve the issue involving those currently on death row owing to a moratorium on death sentences.

Wan Junaidi also said that there will not be automatic reprieve for the 1,342 convicts on death row.

He said that the tribunal would have to review each case thoroughly to ensure that any decision is in line with the Federal Constitution.