Capital punishment in Malaysia is used as a penalty within its legal system for various crimes, although there have been no executions since 2017. There are currently 30 capital crimes in Malaysia, including murder, drug trafficking, treason, acts of terrorism, waging war against the King, rape resulting in death, and nuclear-related offences. Executions are carried out by hanging. Capital punishment was mandatory for 11 crimes for many years. In October 2018, the Malaysian government imposed a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolish the death penalty entirely. However, due to mixed public opinion, it backtracked on its stance and instead choose to preserve the death penalty, but would make it discretionary.
On 4 July 2023, mandatory capital punishment was officially abolished when the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 came into force, allowing judges to choose between either the death penalty or a jail term of 30 to 40 years and not less than 12 strokes of whipping for capital offences.
The last execution in Malaysia happened on 24 May 2017, when 48-year-old Yong Kar Mun, who was convicted of discharging a firearm during a robbery, together with another unnamed man who was convicted of murder and spent over 20 years on death row, were hanged at the Sungai Buloh Prison. Recent administrations have been tacitly abolitionist in practice, although the death penalty retains significant support among the public.
History The idea behind capital punishment in Malaysia arose from a mix between the common law system that Malaysia inherited from British colonisation, as British Malaya, and the authorisation of capital punishment in Islam.Andrew Novak Global Decline of Mandatory Death Penalty: Constitutional Jurisprudence and Legislative Reform in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, Burlington, England, 2014) page 76
Current practice
Death penalties are carried out in Malaysia by hanging. In 2015, the death penalty was mandatory in twelve offences and possible in thirty-three. The thirty-three capital crimes included murder, drug trafficking, treason, acts of terrorism, waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and, since 2007, rape resulting in death. , there were 34 capital crimes, including murder and drug trafficking, with 11 of them carrying the mandatory death penalty.
On 3 April 2023, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill 2023 to abolish all mandatory death penalty under Malaysian criminal law. The bill was subsequently approved by the Dewan Negara on 11 April 2023 and received royal assent from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on 9 June 2023. The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 [Act 846] eventually came into force on 4 July 2023. There had been no executions in the country since 2017.
Public opinion and calls for abolition The abolition of the mandatory death penalty started to gain momentum in Malaysia in the 2010s, and the government started to consider more humane ways to "uphold the justice for the people."Churchill Edward, (30 October 2011), "Abolition of Death Penalty in Malaysia?", The Borneo Post It was found that although a substantial portion of the public agree with capital punishment in cases of murder, drug trafficking, and firearms offences, it dropped once the participants were told about the various scenarios which merited capital punishment as defined in the relevant statute.Thomas Hubert, 10 July 2013 "Malaysian Popular Support for Mandatory Death Penalty Overstated"
However, 82 per cent of Malaysians opposed the government's move to abolish capital punishment, according to a poll by the online edition of Berita Harian, Harian Metro and New Straits Times in October 2018.
Universal Periodic Review 2009 Malaysia has been reviewed twice by the United Nations Human Rights Council under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). First in 2009 and the other in 2013. In 2009, Malaysia reported in their national report that the death sentence was only imposed on the most serious crimes and was in line with Article 6 of the ICCPR. They also held that there were several safeguards in place in the legal system that have to be met before a death penalty can be passed.
Of the various non-governmental organisations that made a submission for the review, three had an extract about capital punishment. The first was the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM). In their report, they noted that they were against capital punishment and natural life sentences and recommended that such cases be reviewed by the Pardon Board. Amnesty International reported that although such a heavy punishment was being carried out, very little information about execution itself was actually made public. This included when the punishment was set to be carried out, the person being punished and who had been executed.
It appeared in the same report that according to 'Malaysians Against Death Penalty' there were a total of 300 inmates on death row in prison in January 2008. Most of them were for drug related offences. The Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process stated that they took the same stance as Amnesty International and noted that the death penalty went against the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
As for the Working Groups report, several nations including France, Djibouti, Egypt and Sudan recommended for a range of actions to be taken against the death penalty. This included suggestions of outright abolition to ratifying the ICCPR and applying the relevant standards when the death penalty was imposed.Working Group Report A/HRC/11/30* 2009 at pg 6 and 18 Malaysia re-affirmed their position on the matter and stated that the death penalty was only applied in the most severe cases. However, they noted that they were at the time attempting to remove the death penalty and caning of those below the age of 18 through an amendment of the Essential (Security Cases) Regulations 1975 and at the same time, would consider a reduction in offences which carry the death penalty in a step towards the abolition of the death penalty outright.Working Group Report A/HRC/11/30* 2009 at pg 12
Universal Periodic Review 2013 In its national report, Malaysia re-iterated its statement made in the 2009 Periodic Review. They added though that there has recently been discussion with the public about the possibility of abolition of the death penalty. They also noted that a study has been undertaken to reform the criminal justice in which included offences with a death penalty upon conviction.Malaysia General Assembly Report A/HRC/WG.6/17/MYS/1 at paragraph – Amnesty International prepared another report for submission for the 2013 Universal Periodic Review. With regards about their submission to the death penalty in 2009, the organisation reported that none of the past recommendations have been implemented yet and reported that currently, there were a total of 930 inmates on death row. The Child Rights Information Network reported that the death penalty was still in force in Malaysia which allowed for the death penalty sentence to be passed under Article 97 of the Child Act 2001. The report submitted Joint Submission number 8 reported that convictions under s302 of the Penal code for murder still occurs in Malaysia.Bernama, (1 November 2012). "Death sentence on duo upheld for murder of businessman" , The Malaysian Insider
The report noted that Malaysia's approach to drug offences violated international standards. They further noted that there was a serious lack of due process given that those accused of drug trafficking are presumed guilty upon arrest. The organisation argued that as a result of these presumptions, it has led to hundreds of death sentences and executions. They next reported that for treason which was punishable by death, at least 4 people were executed because of it in 2007. In the working group's report, several nations commented on the fact that Malaysia still has the death penalty and suggested that the death penalty be abolished or that a moratorium on the death penalty be recognised. Some of the nations that recommended this included Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Belgium, Costa Rica and Kazakhstan. Malaysia responded with a statement that they would keep their options open and continue to engage the public on this subject. They would also look into alternatives to the death penalty. Malaysia pledged that it would complete its review on the moratorium of the death penalty with the intent to abolish it at a later date.Working Group Report A/HRC/25/10 at paragraph 146.106 to 146.111
Recent developments
In 2016, Malaysia carried out nine executions, imposed 36 death sentences, and two death sentences were commuted. Malaysia was also reported to have 1,042 death row inmates, including 413 foreign nationals. According to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Malaysia carried out four executions in 2017.
Ongoing discussions to repeal the death penalty as a mandatory sentence have occurred during the 2010s.
On 10 October 2018, 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. The minister announced that the government had imposed a moratorium on all executions until the passage of the new law. The Pakatan Harapan government had campaigned on reviewing capital punishment and other "unsuitable" national security laws during the 2018 Malaysian general election. The bill would mean that these serious crimes might only face the possibility of the death penalty in a High Court sentencing.
The government's announcement to abolish capital punishment was welcomed by Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International's Secretary General, who called on the Malaysian Parliament to consign the death penalty to the history books. In contrast, multiple groups and people have come out against the abolition of the death penalty, including non-governmental Malay dominance organization, Perkasa.
In March 2019, 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 2019, Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong disclosed that a Bill to abolish mandatory death penalty was expected to be tabled in Parliament in October once the government had decided on appropriate prison terms for 11 serious crimes that it covers.
On 10 December 2019, the Law Minister Liew Vui Keong announced that an anticipated proposal on alternatives to the death penalty would be submitted in January 2020, allowing judges a discretion in certain serious crimes. The 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis beginning in February 2020 led to a change in government, but subsequently the new Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar confirmed on 10 June 2022, that mandatory capital punishment would be formally abolished, with capital punishment being under the discretion of a judge. After the 2022 Malaysian general election led to another change in government, the new administration formally passed new legislation in April 2023 officially abolishing the mandatory death penalty, with Deputy Law Minister Ramkarpal Singh telling Parliament, "The death penalty has not brought the results it was intended to bring."