KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — The government is conducting a comprehensive study on the abolition of mandatory whipping in Malaysia, in line with efforts to reform the criminal justice system towards a more humane and progressive approach.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said yesterday that the review is being coordinated by the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department and involves multiple agencies.
“A Special Meeting on the Study of the Abolition of Mandatory Whipping, chaired by the Deputy Minister (Law and Institutional Reform), was held on 23 June 2025,” she said in a parliamentary written reply.
She said the meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Malaysian Prison Department, the Ministry of Health, the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court, the Royal Malaysia Police, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), and the Bar Council.
Azalina added that the study is being led by a sub-committee under the Legal Affairs Division, which will submit its findings and recommendations to the Criminal Law Reform Committee for further review.
The report will then be presented to the Deputy Minister (Law and Institutional Reform) and subsequently to the minister before being tabled for Cabinet consideration.
Azalina was responding to Sungai Siput MP Kesavan Subramaniam, who had asked whether the government planned to introduce reforms to whipping laws, particularly in light of a death that occurred in Taiping Prison last year after an inmate was caned.
Azalina said preliminary findings show that whipping is prescribed in 57 provisions under the Penal Code, with 26 of these carrying mandatory whipping sentences, while several other laws, such as the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and the Immigration Act 1959/63, also stipulate mandatory whipping.
In Malaysia, the procedure for whipping involves trained prison officers using a rattan cane on the offender’s buttocks, with a medical officer present to ensure the convict’s health is not seriously affected.
However, she noted rising concerns about the long-term physical and psychological harm of whipping, including limited access to medical treatment after punishment.
She added that the government has taken note of a case reported by Suhakam in which a prisoner at Pokok Sena Prison died after undergoing whipping in 2024.
