23 November 2007 :
the government will not make provision to impose the death sentence on juvenile offenders, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said. She said this was in line with the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC) ratified by Malaysia in 1995."We don't want cases involving juveniles to occur and we feel that the offenders should be judged fairly irrespective of whether they are juveniles or adults.
"However, for juvenile offenders, we are bound by the CRC which is ratified by nearly all countries in the world, whereby juvenile offenders must undergo punishment, except that the death penalty is not recommended worldwide."
Earlier, Shahrizat said that in the case of the 17 year old boy who was convicted of murdering his tuition teacher's daughter, the Federal Court decision on Oct 23 showed that section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001 did not contravene the Federal Constitution.
The High Court had ordered that the teenager be held at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, although section 302 of the Penal Code provided for the death sentence for murder.
(Sources: New Straits Times, 23/11/2007)