Govt plans legislative revisions to give a second chance for reformed offenders

The Star

The Home Ministry is reviewing the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act 1969 (Act 7) to give a second chance to individuals who previously had a brush with the law, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.  According to the Home Minister, Act 7 covers the registration of criminals, deportees and others.  Read more at  https://shorturl.at/htJj6  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00This is related to Article 7. Can you elaborate on that?

00:05Article 7 is an article related to how the authorities, especially the police,

00:12keep a kind of record or data among the Malaysian people.

00:21When the name remains in the record,

00:26Article 7 is about crimes and people who are not wanted.

00:31That is the meaning of Article 7.

00:33So, as described in the name, crimes and people who are not wanted,

00:38we find that it is kept in this record,

00:44including the category of the first person involved in a crime,

00:55who has gone through a due process,

00:57was sentenced,

00:59he filed a complaint, the complaint was rejected,

01:02then his name is kept in the record.

01:05That is a normal process.

01:08The due process takes place.

01:11Or the person is detained under the Law of Prevention,

01:15from the time of the ISA, SOSMA, POCA or POTA.

01:19There are also names.

01:21Or people who are considered as a subject of investigation.

01:27Or the person may have been investigated by the police,

01:32the investigation paper was opened,

01:34but it did not end with the accusation.

01:37Or the person was investigated, accused,

01:42but the case was discharged not amounting to a acquittal.

01:46The person was investigated, accused,

01:48halfway the case was withdrawn.

01:50It is a long story.

01:52Because his name is in the criminal record,

01:55and also people who are not wanted.

01:58So, our discussion,

02:00we have not yet made any decisions.

02:04We, especially the police,

02:07and the leadership of KDN,

02:10we are now investigating this topic.

02:14Because there,

02:16while the person involved in the crime,

02:19was sentenced,

02:21was rejected in the trial process, that is clear.

02:23But there is also a category where

02:26the person was simply opened the investigation paper,

02:29but was not accused in court.

02:31But the name is there.

02:32When a person is in this situation,

02:34if he wants to apply for a job,

02:36for example,

02:37or wants to apply for a business license,

02:39he has to go through the process of elimination.

02:42So, elimination usually

02:44causes him to not get

02:47the job opportunity.

02:49So, we think about the second opportunity

02:53for this segment,

02:56as an example.

02:57But we have to discuss

02:59when we want to see

03:01that there are a few aspects

03:04that we need to investigate and review.

03:06But in matters related to the risk of safety,

03:10we will not compromise.

03:12So, these are the two considerations

03:15that we are investigating.

03:16So, we will review the schedule,

03:19the crime schedule,

03:21or what led to the names

03:23included in the record

03:25or in the list of people who were not wanted.

03:28We will review the chapters in Article 7

03:32in terms of interpretation,

03:34in terms of definition,

03:36in terms of including things

03:39from other articles,

03:41or excluding things that are related.

03:44Or we will also look at

03:46the way forward,

03:48whether there is a need to move Article 7

03:50or agree with the Minister

03:52to invoke Section 14,

03:54which gives room for discussion,

03:56or the Minister's consideration

03:57to make a regulation.

03:59All of that, we have started

04:01the series of in-depth discussions.

04:04So, I don't expect

04:07too much time for us to take

04:09to announce the next steps.

04:13But the real desire is

04:15first, to see again,

04:17because the figure is seven digits.

04:22This is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation,

04:25specifically DIMPAT,

04:27whose task is to implement Article 7.

04:33So, if the number is seven digits,

04:36that means the number is large.

04:38So what we will do,

04:39we will analyze in detail

04:41this figure,

04:43and we will break it down

04:45according to categories,

04:47where they are the source

04:49included in the criminal record

04:51or people who were not wanted,

04:53where the things that we can do

04:56to make it easier for them

04:59to clean up the records

05:01through a process that

05:03conforms all aspects of the law,

05:05we are in that direction.

05:07So, whether there is a document

05:09or the Minister's consideration

05:11in the document that allows

05:13us to make a regulation,

05:15so we hope in the near future

05:17we can make a conclusion.

Transcript

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