Status Offences Against Children in Malaysia: A Necessary Evil or Unfairly Discriminatory?

Abstract

In Malaysia, juvenile delinquency is a severe problem. Enacting status offences is one of the legislative remedies to the situation. Status offences refer to the acts that are not criminal per se but become offences because the perpetrators are children. Status offences are covered by a number of legal provisions in Malaysia. This paper aims to look into Malaysia's status offences, the rationale behind them, and whether they violate the equality clause under Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution. This study applied doctrinal legal research methodology that focused on the legal principles in the statutes and legal institutions. This study conducted doctrinal analysis of case law, legal provisions, legal texts, and databases. This study found that the parens patriae concept explains status offences in public policy. Furthermore, the judicial interpretation of Article 8(1) allows for a distinction to be made between children and adults. The major findings of this research is that in Malaysia, there are wide arrays of laws that can be considered as status offences targeting children. This essay finds that status offences are still relevant but that diversion and rehabilitation should precede harsh penalties when dealing with child offenders. This research suggests that future research focuses on status offences from the perspective of children’s right to life and liberty.