Trafficking Drug by Child Offender and Its Punishment in Malaysia

As is commonly known, death penalty shall not be imposed on child offenders who commit the offences with death penalty. This is in line with the protection principle towards children as outlined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Article 40(1) of UNCRC emphasizes on the right of every child alleged as accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law, shall be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth which reinforces the child’s respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child’s age and desirability of promoting the child’s reintegration and the child’s assuming a constructive role in society. Article 37 of the same Convention also mentions that no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment shall be imposed on children, and the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. The offence of drug trafficking is one of the offences which carry the death penalty as the offence of murder. As the death penalty cannot be imposed on children by virtue of section 97 of the Child Act 2001, the question arises is what type of punishment that shall be imposed on those convicted children? This article identifies and discusses the type of punishment that is imposed on child offenders committing the offence under section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.