Justice Aslam Zainuddin said the court could only give due consideration to the mitigation plea and strike a true balance in the scales of justice if the counsel carried out their role properly by highlighting the factors in their client’s favour prior to sentencing.
“Counsel should not treat the mitigating process as something that should be done in a lackadaisical manner,” he said.
Aslam made the remark in his judgment when sentencing a 37-year-old ex-lorry driver to 30 years’ jail after finding him guilty of trafficking 1.4kg of methamphetamine, commonly known as syabu, nearly four years ago.
The judge also ordered that Ahmad Fahmi Mohd Hasnu be given the minimum 12 strokes of the rotan as prescribed by law as he is below the age of 50.
Fahmi was convicted of committing the offence at an apartment at Taman Pinggiran Putra in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, at around 6.45pm on Oct 8, 2020.
Based on the notes of evidence, the lawyer who represented Fahmi only informed the court of his client’s age, and that he is divorced and the father of four.
Aslam said the lawyer barely had anything to say in mitigation.
“He did not even ask for the alternative sentence of life imprisonment until I pressed him to do so,” he said in the judgment posted on the judiciary’s website yesterday.
Judges currently have the discretion to impose either the death penalty or a 30-year jail term plus caning if a male offender is below the age of 50.
Aslam called on all defence counsel to take the mitigation process seriously and not treat it as something to be done robotically, nonchalantly or in a blasé fashion.
The judge said the lawyer had to highlight to the court various important matters, including whether the accused was a first offender, his age, the duration he had been in custody while awaiting trial, whether he was remorseful, whether he had any intellectual disability and whether he had previous convictions.
“Not forgetting also the principles of sentencing in drug cases. However, it must be emphasised that these factors are not exhaustive,” he added.