PETALING JAYA: Lawyers and human rights NGOs have lauded the Federal Court for commuting the death sentence and natural life imprisonment of several individuals over the past few days.
The decision was made under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
Lawyer Sivaraj Retinasekharan said: “It does not mean all the 1,020 prisoners on death row will immediately have their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
“The prisoners will have to apply to the court to have their sentences commuted. The court has the right to maintain the death sentence and not commute it if it feels that the original sentence is warranted.”
He added that judges could also reduce life imprisonment to 20 years.
Another lawyer, Jay Moy Wei Jiun, said it is a good thing that the courts now have the discretion to impose life imprisonment or the death penalty.
He said the death penalty is still an option in sentencing convicts, especially for heinous crimes, and this is crucial and in public interest.
“I believe the current amendments should stand for now and be studied from time to time to determine their effectiveness in reducing the commission of serious and especially violent crimes.”
However, Sivaraj said the death penalty should be abolished as it does not have a place in modern society.
“The death penalty is an irreversible punishment and takes away life. This is not something the government should partake in. ‘An eye for an eye’ should not be practised in a progressive society.”
He said there are inherent flaws in the criminal justice system as people are not infallible and do make mistakes, adding that in his experience as a criminal lawyer, the death penalty did not act as a deterrent as crimes with capital punishment continued to increase.
“The death penalty does not address the root cause of an offence. Imposing it is a difficult decision as judges also have a conscience and are well aware that their sentence ends a life.”
However, he said it is fair for the death penalty to be lifted depending on the crime.
Sivaraj said with the amendments, it is much fairer now as the judge has the discretion to mete out a sentence according to the offender’s mitigation factors and characteristics of the offence.
Global Human Rights Federation deputy president Peter John Jaban said the death penalty does not solve the problem, adding that death row inmates whose sentences were commuted to imprisonment have access to rehabilitation programmes and can work and earn an income.
