Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 () is a Malaysian law 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 and legal punishment under Malaysia's criminal law and this Act does not equal to total abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia.
Before the commencement of this Act on 4 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. If one is found guilty under one of such criminal offences, the only punishment available to the judge by law is the death penalty. 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.
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.
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.
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 a fixed 30 years imprisonment as defined by the Criminal Justice Act 1953. This Act seeks to abolish "imprisonment for natural life", not "imprisonment for life".
Background and Timeline
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.
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 oppressive in nature. 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.
During the first Pakatan Harapan government (2018-2020) On 29 June 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail revealed that the government is looking into the need to make amendments to do away with the mandatory death penalty in legislation pertaining to criminal offences, as this measure would enable Sirul Azhar Umar, who was convicted and sentenced to death over the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, to return to Malaysia from Australia if he wanted to.
On 2 July 2018, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Nadzri Siron said that the death sentence on 17 inmates in death row had been put on hold pending a government review on capital punishment.
On 7 October 2018, Law Minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong under the newly formed Pakatan Harapan cabinet revealed that a study conducted by the Attorney General's Chamber to abolish mandatory death penalty in Malaysia is in the final stage and will be presented to the cabinet for determination.
Total abolition of death penalty proposed and moratorium on execution On 10 October 2018, Law Minister Liew Vui Keong announced to the press that the Cabinet has given the green light for the death penalty to be abolished and the government will abolish death penalty for all crimes.
"All death penalty will be abolished. Full stop." — he told the press.
Liew also said there should be a moratorium in place for execution before the death penalty is formally abolished and the relevant Bill will be tabled in the next Parliament sitting, which would begin on 15 October until 29 Nov.
On the following day, 11 October 2018, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman announced that the government has imposed a nationwide moratorium on all death sentences with immediate effect, and the execution of the 1,278 inmates who are currently on death row will be halted. On the same day, an online poll conducted by Berita Harian, Harian Metro and New Straits Times on Facebook and Twitter following the Law Minister's announcement to abolish all death penalty showed that 82% of Malaysians are against such move by the government. A survey conducted by The Star concluded on 13 October 2024 also showed 45% of Malaysians are against the total abolition of death penalty.
During a speech on 14 October 2018, Liew reveals that the death penalty will be replaced by a minimum 30 years imprisonment instead. He also said existing death sentences will be commuted to minimum 30 years imprisonment instead during the Parliament session on 16 October 2018. On 16 November 2018, Liew also told Al Jazeera that there will be no "U-turn" on death penalty abolition. The proposed Bill however was not tabled in 2018 and was deferred to the next Dewan Rakyat sitting next year. "There has been some slight changes as we need to look into some issues, but I believe everything will be ready by the next sitting,” Law Minister Liew Vui Keong told reporters at the Parliament lobby on 20 December 2018.
On 11 January 2019, during a conference held at Monash University Malaysia, Liew again reiterated he remained a strong supporter of abolishing the death penalty despite his cousin was murdered 40 years ago. On 18 January 2019, Liew said there will be no referendum held on the abolition of death penalty as the matter is still yet to be finalised. On 24 January 2019, families of 30 death row prisoners submitted a memorandum of support on death penalty abolition to Liew at Putrajaya. Liew also said the proposed Bill is expected to be tabled in 2019.
On 9 March 2019, Law Minister Liew Vui Keong however hinted that the death penalty may not be fully abolished and the Cabinet is considering among three options. First option being the total abolition of death penalty for all crimes, while second option involves changing the death penalty for crimes such as murder to be non-mandatory and granting judges the discretion to impose life imprisonment as alternative sentence. The third option however would only abolish the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, and replacing it with life imprisonment of 30 years instead.
The "U-turn" On 13 March 2019, Deputy Law Minister Mohamed Hanipa Maidin told the Dewan Rakyat that the government will only repeal the mandatory death penalty for 11 criminal offences, and the death penalty will become optional and imposed at the discretion of the court.
This move was soon accused and criticised by several NGOs and human rights groups as a sudden "U-turn" on the Pakatan Harapan government's stance on total abolition of the death penalty. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International described the announcement as "disappointing", accusing the government as "appears to have bowed to political and public pressure to retain the death penalty". Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has also criticised the Pakatan Harapan government as succumbing to "moral cowardice" and calling the decision as "shocking, unprincipled and embarrassing". The Malaysian Coalition Against the Death Penalty has also expressed its deep disappointment and claimed that "the death penalty, whether mandatory or not, has no place in today's world". Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET) was also saddened by the U-turn, and said that the Prime Minister and parliamentarians must have the required political will and courage to "do the right and just" to immediately abolish the death penalty.
On 5 April 2019, Law Minister Liew Vui Keong said that the process to abolish the mandatory death penalty was still ongoing as the government had to deal with various issues related to the imposition of a moratorium against executions. The process is expected to be completed in June and in time for the July sitting of the Dewan Rakyat. On 10 May 2019, after nearly a year in office, Liew conceded that legal reforms such as proposal to abolish mandatory death penalty is still work in progress as the government must consider the views of all stakeholders, given the complexity and sensitivity of the issue.
On 4 July 2019 during the Dewan Rakyat sitting in July 2019, Liew Vui Keong said the studies on the abolishment of mandatory death penalty has been completed and the Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament next week. However, contrary to his previous statement, the Bill was not tabled in the July sitting and was again deferred to the next sitting in October 2019 (and would deferred again to March 2020). A task force will also be set up to further study the matters, Liew revealed during a press conference on 13 July 2019.
On 29 August 2019, the Cabinet agreed to set up the task force, which would later be called the Special Committee on the Study on the Alternative to the Mandatory Death Sentence. It was headed by the former Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and consists of other eight experts. The special committee was formally established on 20 September 2019 and held its first meeting on the same day. In the next four months, the committee would also held several town halls and public consultations across the country with all segments of society. The study was concluded on 31 January 2020 and a 128-page final report was submitted by the special committee to the government in February 2020.
Fall of Pakatan Harapan government
The Bill was originally expected to be tabled to the Dewan Rakyat in March 2020, but this would not be materialised as the Pakatan Harapan government would collapsed on 24 February 2020 following Sheraton Move and the resignation of the then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Malaysia would also be struck by the COVID-19 pandemic and the country went into lockdown on 18 March 2020. Since its proposal in October 2018, the tabling of the Bill under the Pakatan Harapan government has experienced four deferment, from October 2018 to March 2019, July 2019, October 2019, and finally to March 2020.
During Muhyiddin's term (2020-2021) During Muhyiddin Yasin's 17-months term as the 8th Prime Minister from his swearing in on 1 March 2020 until his resignation on 16 August 2021, no Bill relating to abolition of mandatory death penalty was ever tabled in any of the Parliament sitttings held. No real progress was achieved either as the then-Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan merely on separate occasions told Parliament that the report submitted by the special committee will be presented to the Cabinet for "further consideration" and still "required further scrutiny".
During Ismail Sabri's term (2021-2022) In August 2021, Malaysia experienced another round of political turmoil and change of Prime Minister, which resulted in Ismail Sabri Yaakob swearing in as the 9th Prime Minister and the formation of a new Cabinet. On 29 December 2021, the new Law Minister, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, said the government will make a decision once the special committee formed two years ago has presented its findings and the findings were expected to be submitted soon. On 28 January 2022, Wan Junaidi in a statement said the special committee's report will be presented to the Cabinet by the end of February and he has been briefed on the report's findings by the committee.
Abolition effort revived