A SPECIAL committee studying alternative punishments to the mandatory death penalty needs more time and will only complete its report for the cabinet next month, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong.

“They need a few more weeks to fine-tune several issues. They will submit it in January.

“I will have to study the report before tabling it to the cabinet,” he told reporters after attending the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) 2019 Human Rights Day in Kuala Lumpur today.

The committee, which was established in August, is tasked with studying alternatives to the death penalty as part of Pakatan Harapan’s plan to abolish mandatory capital punishment and to grant discretion to the courts instead.

The plan has drawn criticism from certain quarters, causing delays in the move to table a bill on removing the mandatory death sentence from existing laws.

Liew said in October the bill could be ready for tabling next March.

There are 33 offences under current laws that carry the death penalty. In 11 of these, the death sentence is mandatory.

The special committee comprises former members of the judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Prisons Department, Bar Council, Suhakam, academics, criminologists and civil society organisations. – December 10, 2019.