Cabinet to discuss final report on abolishing death penalty

A comprehensive report by the Special Committee to Review Alternative Punishments to the Mandatory Death Penalty will be tabled in a cabinet meeting for consideration and approval.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Takiyuddin Hassan said this in a parliamentary written reply to R Sivarasa (PH-Sungai Buloh) yesterday.

"In general, the final report (by the committee) contains recommendations for alternative punishments to 11 offences which carry the mandatory death penalty, offences under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234), and 21 other offences, at the court's discretion.

"The special committee also proposed for the improvements of the justice system in Malaysia in the long run," Takiyuddin said.

Sivarasa had asked for the latest update in the effort to abolish the mandatory death penalty.

Takiyuddin, however, did not specify when the cabinet meeting would take place.

Members of the task force to look for alternative sentencing for death row prisoners included former Federal Court judges, former Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) officers, former senior officers of the Prisons Department, as well as representatives from the Bar Council, Suhakam, academicians, criminologists, and civil society organisations.

The task force was set-up under the previous Harapan government last year.

Decriminalising attempted suicide

Separately, Takiyuddin answered Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (PH-Bandar Kuching), whose question involved decriminalising attempted suicide.

The de facto law minister said the AGC is studying the law to remove attempted suicide from being a crime and to categorise it under the health system for the subject to get appropriate treatment.

"The first part of the study is focused on attempted suicide under Section 309 of the penal code.

"While the second part is focused on the abetment of suicide under Section 305 and 306," he said.

Section 309 refers to attempts to commit suicide, while Section 305 and 306 refer to abetment of suicide of a child or insane person, and the abetment of suicide, respectively.

Parliament services bill

On a separate matter, Takiyuddin also said that the government is reviewing and fine-tuning the establishing of the Parliament Services Commission.

Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (PH-Ledang) had asked for the government's plan to form the commission as well as about the reintroduction of the Parliament Services Act.

Earlier this year, before the Harapan government collapsed, the then Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming said that Putrajaya would table the Parliament Services Bill 2020 in March which would restore the autonomy of the August House. - Mkini