Abstract
Death penalty is the most extreme punishment for a crime and has been berated as heartless and barbaric. Nations implementing death penalty are scorned upon and pressured to replace death penalty with more humane punishment. Although drug trafficking in Malaysia is punishable by death, there is no guarantee that all accused persons charged for drug trafficking will be hanged to death. Judges in Malaysia are extremely cautious in meting out death penalty and would only do so in the absence of reasonable doubt. This paper examines drug trafficking cases reported over two decades to ascertain whether Malaysia has liberally executed death penalty on drug traffickers. Empirical analysis supported by doctrinal research was carried out on drug trafficking cases reported in three leading law journals in Malaysia from 1991 to 2012. Analysis of the cases on drug trafficking in Malaysia revealed that a significant number of cases were concluded with the acquittal of the accused persons. While enforcing death penalty is not arbitrarily done, acquittals in drug trafficking cases are indicative of need for improvements.
Highlights
Drug trafficking is a global problem as it endangers the nation and leads to drug-related crimes
A significant issue needs to be addressed before any attempt in amending the law: has death penalty achieved its deterrent effect and fulfilled its objectives to reduce drug trafficking activities? This paper examines section 39B Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (DDA) cases which were reported in three leading law journals in Malaysia to determine whether death penalty had achieved its objective as deterrent measure to reduce drug trafficking activities
While the theory is that drug trafficking is punishable by death in Malaysia, the reality is that death penalty was not executed in a significant number of cases
Summary
Drug trafficking is a global problem as it endangers the nation and leads to drug-related crimes. Realizing the detrimental effects of drug trafficking, the Malaysian government had imposed death penalty for drug trafficking since 1975 where the punishment was life imprisonment and/or whipping or death. Death penalty was perceived as the most effectual punishment due to its permanent and forceful nature that it would be appropriate to deter heinous crimes such as rape, murder, armed robbery and treason (Kwai, 1981) Imposing such severe sentence was deemed to be necessary for the protection of public interests and to emphasize public disapproval with the punishment imposed as an indication of the gravity of the offense as stated in Chang Liang Sang v Public Prosecutor (1982) MLJ 231. Based on the statistical analysis, this study further expounds on the reasons for acquittal in drug trafficking cases
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