Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said there has been no major change in the number of drug cases recorded over the last four years.

She added that instead, court statistics show that such crimes had increased by 1.8% in the last two years.

“It appears that the deterrent sentences imposed, including capital punishment, have not been effective in curbing this category of crime,” she said in her speech at the opening of the legal year today.

Trafficking carries the death penalty while possession under Section 39A of the Dangerous Drugs Act imposes a minimum five-year jail term and a maximum 30-year jail sentence.

Male offenders are also subjected to a minimum 10 strokes of the rotan if they are aged below 50.

Other common offences are self-administration of drugs that carries a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or a jail term not exceeding two years.

On sexual offences against children, Tengku Maimun said there was a steep increase by almost 42% over the past two years while the pandemic was raging.

She viewed such offences as a serious problem and said she held dialogues with the government to establish more sexual crime courts to hear these cases.

Tengku Maimun said the number of corruption cases registered between 2017 and last year had not been consistent, with certain years recording more cases than others.

However, she noticed the total number of cases registered over the last two years had shown a slight increase.

“As corruption is a scourge in society, it is important for this to be closely monitored as it is a measure of the nation’s health and image, both domestically and internationally.”

She said street crime cases have been on a steady decline since 2017.

“Perhaps the imposition of the various movement control orders and lockdowns left no one on the streets to commit such crimes. This might explain the reason for the drop,” she added.