The announcement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today that the government has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty and allow judges the discretion to impose the death penalty or not, is a move in the right direction and welcomed.
This is reflective of the intention of the Pakatan Harapan government which was also in the process of abolishing the mandatory death penalty in 2019 which, unfortunately, did not materialise due to the change of government in March that year.
Having announced this, it is imperative that the necessary steps are taken by the government urgently to table the necessary bills in Parliament to amend the affected statutes as there are many currently on death row who would be affected by such amendments.
I am of the view that the said amendments ought to apply retrospectively to those currently on death row even though they were convicted before the amendments come into force, as it would be unfair to impose the mandatory death penalty on those convicted of such offences before the abolishment and allow offenders who are convicted after the abolishment the chance to escape the gallows.
This would clearly go against the principle of equality enshrined in our Federal Constitution.
In the circumstances, I call on the government to consider introducing, by legislation, a separate sentencing exercise for those on death row to determine if they ought to be exempted from the death penalty at the discretion of a judge after the mandatory death penalty is abolished.
It is hoped that we see the necessary amendments being tabled in Parliament as soon as possible as the issue is long overdue.