Minimum Age for Criminal Responsibility: Examining Malaysian Law from the Perspective of International Law
(Umur Minimum Tanggungjawab Jenayah Kanak-kanak: Menilai Undang-undang Malaysia dari Perspektif Undang-undang Antarabangsa)
Abstract
The minimum age for criminal responsibility refers to the age at which children can be reasonably and fairly considered liable for their criminal actions. To date, determination of the minimum age of child criminal responsibility still remains a controversial issue among the justice systems across the world where juveniles are concerned. Current practice in various justice systems reveals that there is no uniformity in setting the minimum age for child criminal responsibility. Reference to international instruments reveals that there are specific principles and guidelines outlined by these instruments on this matter.Thus, this paper will try to examine principles and guidelines set by the international instruments on this matter. In addition, this paper also will attempt to analyze comparatively the extent to which the current Malaysian legal framework in this matter complies with the international legal standards, and highlight possible suggestions for the improvement of existing laws and policies.
Keywords: children, criminal responsibility, international laws, minimum age
References
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Martin, E. F. dan Pruett, M. K., "The Juvenile Sex Offender and the Juvenile Justice System" dlm. American Criminal Law Review 35, hlm. 279-332, 1998.
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Muncie, J. dan Goldson, B. (ed.), 2006. Comparative Youth Justice. London: Sage Publications, hlm. 1-224.
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Zimring, F. E., 2000. "The Common Thread: Diversion in Juvenile Justice" dlm. California Law Review 88:6, hlm. 2477-495, 2000.
Akta Dadah Berbahaya (Langkah-langkah Pencegahan Khas) 1985.
Akta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-langkah Khas) 2012 (SOSMA).
Akta Keterangan 1950.
Aronson, J. D., "Neuroscience and Juvenile Justice" dlm. Akron Law Review 42, hlm. 917-30, 2009.
Arthur, R. , "Rethinking the Criminal Responsibility of Young People in England and Wales" dlm. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 20:1, hlm. 13-29, 2012.
Arthur, R., 2010. Young Offenders and the Law: How the Law Respond to Youth Offending. London: Routledge, hlm. 1-157.
Aun, W. M., 2005. The Malaysian Legal System. Selangor: Pearson, hlm. 1-454.
Bandalli, S., "Abolition of the Presumption of Doli Incapax and the Criminalisationof Children." dlm. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 37:2, hlm. 114-23, 1998.
Banks, Cyndi., 2013. Youth, Crime and Justice. Routledge.
Bateman, T., "Keeping Up (Tough) Appearances: The Age of Criminal Responsibility"dlm. Criminal Justice Matters 92:1, hlm. 28-29, 2013.
Blakemore S-J dan Choudhury S., "Development of the Adolescent Brain: Implications for Executive Function and Social Cognition" dlm. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47:3, hlm. 296-312, 2006.
Bryan, A. Garner, 1999. Black's Law Dictionary. Edisi Ketujuh. St. Paul, Minn: West Group, hlm. 499.
Bueren, G. Van, 2006. Article 40: Child Criminal Justice. A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Leiden, Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, hlm. 1-30.
C lwn Minor [1995] 3 WLR 888.
Cauffman E. dan Steinberg L., "Immaturity of Judgment in Adolescence: Why Adolescents May Be Less Culpable than Adults" dlm. Behavioural Sciences and the Law 18, hlm. 741-60, 2000.
Chambliss, W. J. (ed.), 2011. Key Issues in Crime and Punishment: Juvenile Crime and Justice. Thousand Oaks. CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412994132.
Cipriani, D., 2009. Children's Rights and the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, hlm. 1-234.
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Crofts, T., "Catching Up with Europe: Taking the Age of Criminal Responsibility Seriously in England" dlm. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice 17:4, hlm. 267-91, 2009.
Delmage, E., "The Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: A Medico-Legal Perspective" dlm. Youth Justice 13:2, hlm. 102-10, 2013, http://yjj.sagepub.com/cgi/doi/10.1177/1473225413492053
Elliott, C., "Criminal Responsibility and Children: A New Defence Required to Acknowledge the Absence of Capacity and Choice" dlm. The Journal of Criminal Law 75:4, hlm. 289-308, 2011.
European Charter Justice.
Fionda, J., "New Labour, Old Hat: Youth Justice and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998" dlm. Criminal Law Review 36, 37, hlm. 36-47, 1999.
Fortin, J., 2009. Children's Rights and the Developing Law. Edisi Ketiga. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, hlm. 1-804.
Gardner, M. R., "Punishment and Juvenile Justice: A Conceptual Framework for Assessing Constitutional Rights of Youthful Offenders" dlm. Vanderbilt Law Review 35:4, hlm. 791-847, 1982.
Gillen, J., "The Age of Criminal Responsibility: The Frontier between Care and Justice" dlm. Child Care in Practice 12:2, hlm. 129-39, 2006.
Glanville William, "The Criminal Responsibility of Children" dlm. Criminal Law Review hlm. 493-500, 1954.
Goldson, B., "Counterblast: Difficult to Understand or Defend: A Reasoned Case for Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility" dlm. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 48:5, hlm. 514-21, 2009.
Goldson, B., "Unsafe, Unjust and Harmful to Wider Society: Grounds for Raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility in England and Wales" dlm. Youth Justice 13:2, hlm. 111-30, 2013.
Hart, H. L. A., 1960. Punishment and Responsibility: Essays in the Philosophy of Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press, hlm. 1-332.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Jaime, F., "The Significance of the Age of Criminal Responsibility within the Irish Youth Justice System." dlm. Galway Student Law Review 4, hlm. 22-32, 2010.
Kohlberg, L., 1976. "Moral Stages and Moralisation: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach" dlm. Lickona T.. Moral Development and Behaviour: Theory, Research, and Social Issues. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Maher, G., "Age and Criminal Responsibility" dlm. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 2, hlm. 493-512, 2005.
Martin, E. F. dan Pruett, M. K., "The Juvenile Sex Offender and the Juvenile Justice System" dlm. American Criminal Law Review 35, hlm. 279-332, 1998.
Morris, A. dan Gelsthorpe, L., 2006. "Towards Good Practice in Juvenile Justice Policy in the Commonwealth." dlm. Commonwealth Law Bulletin 32, Mac 2014, hlm. 27-58.
Muncie, J. dan Goldson, B. (ed.), 2006. Comparative Youth Justice. London: Sage Publications, hlm. 1-224.
Mustaffa, A., dan Kamaliah, S., 2010. "Evidence by Child in Criminal Proceedingsin Malaysian Courts: A Study on Post Ratification of Convention of Rights of Child." dlm. Malaysian Current Law Journal 6 CLJ 2010.
Peraturan-Peraturan Perlu (Kes-kes Keselamatan) (Pindaan) 1975 (ESCAR).
Piaget, J., 1932. The Moral Judgment of the Child. London: The Free Press Publications.
PP lwn Lim Hang Sioh [1978] 1 MLJ 68.
Sasso, P., 2009. "Criminal Responsibility in the Age of Mind Reading" dlm. American Criminal Law Review 46:2, hlm. 1191-244, 2009.
Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules).
Superintendent of Pulau Jerejak & Anor lwn Wong Cheng Ho [1979].
Unicef, 2013. The Malaysian Juvenile Justice System: A Study of Mechanisms for Handling Children in Conflict with the Law. Kuala Lumpur: Unicef. Diakses daripada www.unicef.org/malaysia; www.unicef.org/malaysia.
Zimring, F. E., 2000. "The Common Thread: Diversion in Juvenile Justice" dlm. California Law Review 88:6, hlm. 2477-495, 2000.
Published
2016-01-01
How to Cite
MUSTAFFA, Aminuddin.
Minimum Age for Criminal Responsibility: Examining Malaysian Law from the Perspective of International Law.
Kanun: Jurnal Undang-undang Malaysia, [S.l.], v. 28, n. 1, p. 43-67, jan. 2016.
ISSN 2682-8057.
Available at: <https://jurnal.dbp.my/index.php/Kanun/article/view/4395>. Date accessed: 20 apr. 2024.
Section
Articles
