Implementation of Alternative Punishments for Criminal Offenders Under The Sharia Legal System in Malaysia

The current trend in criminal punishment emphasizes a serious focus on the rehabilitation agenda as one of the primary goals to be achieved from the imposed sentences. Various forms of rehabilitation-oriented alternative punishments are introduced from time to time, aiming to rehabilitate offenders rather than merely punishing them. The implementation of these alternative rehabilitation-focused punishments can also be seen in a much broader scope under the civil legal system in Malaysia compared to the Sharia legal system. Under the Sharia legal system or in Sharia Courts, discussions on alternative punishments are not as popular and are rarely seriously emphasized, even though there are provisions for them in the Acts and State Enactments. The punishments imposed typically revolve around imprisonment, corporal punishment, and fines, as provided in the Sharia Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Amendment 1984) [Act 355]. Therefore, this qualitative research aims to analyze the provisions in the Acts and State Enactments as an effort to examine whether these provisions relate to alternative punishments and to analyze the challenges hindering their implementation in Sharia Courts. The research findings indicate that although there are provisions for alternative punishments to be implemented in Sharia Courts or under the Sharia legal system in Malaysia, their implementation is more limited in scope and less popular compared to the Civil Courts.