Welcoming the start of Federal Court hearings for review applications following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty, Suhakam nevertheless voiced concern about the length of time allocated.

“In particular, the time frame for the applicant and the lawyer to file a comprehensive review application which includes filing affidavits from family members, obtaining documents of past convictions that may not be readily available, and preparing a strong case for the review,” it said in a statement today.

The commission also said it was important to provide lawyers and applicants with ample time to prepare their cases in order to ensure procedural fairness and due process for all parties concerned.

“Suhakam calls for the review process to provide justice not only substantively to the applicant but also procedurally,” it said.

On Tuesday, the Federal Court heard the first batch of review applications brought by death row prisoners under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023. Another 14 review applications are expected to be heard today.

The Federal Court was granted the discretion to review cases involving death sentences in light of the revision act, which took effect on Sept 12 this year.

This followed the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023, which came into force on July 4, removing the mandatory death sentence for offences such as drug trafficking and murder.

Under the new law, judges have the discretion to impose either the death penalty or a prison sentence for a period of not less than 30 years and up to 40 years. If not sentenced to death, the person will also be punished with whipping of not less than 12 strokes for male convicts below 50 years of age.