Kuala Lumpur: A Bill proposing to make the death penalty an option and no longer mandatory was passed via a voice vote after it was tabled for its third reading in Parliament today.
Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Alice Lau called for the vote after Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Ramkarpal Singh’s winding-up speech on the Bill.
The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill would give judges the discretion on the death penalty rather than requiring them to do so when convicting on offences that made them mandatory.
The amendments in the Bill also include replacing life and natural life imprisonment (until death) as an alternative to the mandatory death sentence, with the new alternative of jail of between 30 and 40 years as well as no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane.
The Bill must now to be approved in the Dewan Negara as well before being presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for royal assent.
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.