Malaysia Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Mandatory death penalty abolition

Legal area

Court

12 Nov 2025

PHRUEKSA TAEMCHIM

Citation

05(RJ)-7-11/2024(W) (Mahkamah Persekutuan)
Court

RJ
Case number

05(RJ)-7-11/2024(W) (Mahkamah Persekutuan)

The Federal Court held that while Act 847 confers a temporary statutory jurisdiction to review certain death sentences and life imprisonment sentences, persons who had been granted royal pardons under Article 42 prior to the commencement of Act 847 are no longer within the statutory category of ‘any person who has been sentenced to death’ under s 3(1) and thus cannot invoke s 2 review of death sentences; decisions of the Pardons Board under Article 42 are non‑justiciable and courts lack jurisdiction to vary them. Consequently the Attorney General’s Rule 137 review was allowed and the Federal…
23 Oct 2025

HASHMAT KHAN

Citation

B-05(SH)-88-02/2025 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Court

SH
Case number

B-05(SH)-88-02/2025 (Mahkamah Rayuan)

The Court held that, given the statutory amendment providing an alternative to death and having regard to mitigating factors (young age, guilty plea, first offender) and public interest, the minimum alternative sentence of 30 years imprisonment from date of arrest and 12 strokes was appropriate and not to be disturbed; the appeal against sentence was dismissed.
21 Jul 2025

Alagesan Kamaraj [TIMBALAN ]

Citation

B-05(SH)-95-03/2024 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Court

SH
Case number

B-05(SH)-95-03/2024 (Mahkamah Rayuan)

The court exercised its discretion under Act 846 to reduce the mandatory death exposure to a term of imprisonment of 35 years and 12 strokes of whipping, balancing the mitigation from the guilty plea against the brutality of the murder; conviction was affirmed and sentence reduced accordingly.
20 Mar 2025

Sainulabdeen Siyad [ ]

Citation

N-05(M)-111-03/2023 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Court

M
Case number

N-05(M)-111-03/2023 (Mahkamah Rayuan)

The Court held the prosecution proved physical possession and requisite knowledge of methamphetamine, ketamine and pseudoephedrine by the appellants through unchallenged government chemist evidence, DNA linking appellants to items in the premises, recovery of identity documents and the proximity and storage of drugs in an isolated compound; adverse inferences were not warranted as non-production of certain witnesses did not amount to suppression of evidence; photographs were admissible as secondary evidence under s65(1)(c) after originals were deleted; the chemist was competent; convictions w…
21 Oct 2024

[ ] 1. ) SAIDI BIN MUHAMMAD 2. ) SITI YUSRIDA BINTI IBRAHIM

Citation

DA-45A-26-06/2024 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

DA-45A-26-06/2024 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

Court exercised post‑abolition discretion and, after balancing mitigating factors (early guilty plea, age) and aggravating factors (quantity indicating distribution, public interest), held death penalty not justified and imposed life imprisonment equated to 30 years for first count and 5 years for second count commencing from date of arrest.
26 Aug 2024

Mohammad Firdaus Bin Ismail [ ]

Citation

P-05(M)-206-05/2022 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Court

M
Case number

P-05(M)-206-05/2022 (Mahkamah Rayuan)

Under the amended section 302 (Akta 846) the Court exercised statutory discretion: prosecution failed to demonstrate that this murder was of the exceptionally depraved character required to justify death; balancing aggravating and mitigating factors the Court substituted the mandatory death sentence with the maximum alternative of 40 years' imprisonment and 12 strokes, with conviction affirmed.
7 May 2024

Kang Choo Kiang [ ]

Citation

K-05(M)-146-04/2022 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Court

M
Case number

K-05(M)-146-04/2022 (Mahkamah Rayuan)

Appellant had custody and control of the vehicle containing a large quantity of methamphetamine; the statutory presumption of knowledge under s.37(d) DDA 1952 was properly raised and not rebutted on the evidence; chain of custody and chemist analysis established identity and weight of drugs; the innocent carrier story was fabricated and not corroborated; conviction for trafficking is therefore safe. On sentence, the death penalty was substituted with thirty years' imprisonment commencing from date of arrest in light of applicable sentencing principles and legislative context.
1 Apr 2024

1. ) CHIN WEI LING 2. ) BEH HUNG TIONG

Citation

AB-45A-20-12/2023 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

AB-45A-20-12/2023 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

Conviction for trafficking under s.39B(1)(a) read with s.39B(2) of the DDA attracts either death or, if death is not imposed, life imprisonment and minimum whipping; given the statutory text and weight of drugs (222.5g methamphetamine) and public interest, the court imposed life imprisonment (from date of arrest) and no whipping because the offender is female; the guilty plea did not permit reduction below the statutory sentence available under s.39B(2).
6 Feb 2024

Oon Jium Seong [ ]

Citation

B-05(M)-90-03/2022 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Court

M
Case number

B-05(M)-90-03/2022 (Mahkamah Rayuan)

The Court held that under the amended s.39B(2) DDA the mandatory death sentence is displaced and that, on the facts (trafficking 1761.1g ketamine) death was not warranted; the appropriate sentence is imprisonment for life construed as 30 years from date of arrest plus the minimum 12 strokes of the cane under the statute.
24 Oct 2023

[ ] You Yong

Citation

PA-45A-11-06/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

PA-45A-11-06/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

Defendant's guilty plea, limited courier role, cooperation in identifying offenders and other mitigating circumstances outweigh aggravating factors; under discretionary sentencing following abolition of mandatory death penalty the Court sentenced the defendant to 30 years' imprisonment (life term as defined) from date of arrest and 12 strokes of the rotan.