Whether the death penalty

and life imprisonment

sentences are against Art 5

(1) of the Constitution

In Federal Constitution, Article 5(1) said about no person

shall be deprived of his life or personal

liberty save in accordance with the law. It exists to

provide Malaysian citizens with the necessary

constitutional protection from the arbitration deprivation

of life which anything less would be

contrary to due process.

Lau Kee Hoo v Public Prosecutor [1984] 1 MLJ 110,

the appellant was convicted for an

offence under section

57(1) of the Internal Security Act 1960 and sentenced to the

death penalty.
The legal counsel however argued the wisdom and

effectiveness of capital punishment in the said provision.

In reply, Raja Azlan Shah stated that as it is a constitutional

matter, the parliament has the power to enact that law.

Plus, the mandatory death sentence under ISA was not

contrary to Article 5(1) of the Constitution. It is because the

word “law” in Article 5(1) refers to any law passed by the

legislature exercising its jurisdiction.

Letitia Bosman v. PP (NO 2) [2020] 8 CLJ 252

South African Letitia Bosman and Benjamin William

Hawkes along with Peruvian Jorge Crespo Gomez had been

convicted of trafficking in drugs

while Pubalan Peremal has been found guilty of murdering

his brother-in-law.
The Federal Court held that the death penalty mandatory

for cases involving drug trafficking and murder was

constitutional as the legislature empowered to do so.

Che Ani bin Itam v Public Prosecutor [1984] 1 MLJ 113,

The appellant was convicted for an offence under section 4 of the

Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 and sentenced to

imprisonment for life with six strokes of whipping.

The legal counsel on behalf of the appellant had argued about the
constitutional of life imprisonment punishment according to the

act.
Raja Azlan Shah stated that there is nothing arbitrary, fanciful, or

oppressive in the legislatively defined sentence for the specific

offence in question committed under the Firearms (Increased

Penalties) Act 1971.

Hence, the sentence of life imprisonment prescribed in the said Act

is constitutional and valid

Based on the above cases, we can infer that the punishments of the

death penalty and life imprisonment are valid and constitutional with

Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution.