Punishment of Child Offenders in Malaysia: Deterrence or Rehabilitation?

Juvenile justice system has been implemented in Malaysia for more than 50 years. Throughout these years, Malaysian Courts have applied different theories of punishments such as deterrence, retribution, incapacitation and rehabilitation. However, theories of deterrence and rehabilitation have often been used by Malaysian courts when dealing with child offenders. In doing so the courts are faced with the difficult task of balancing the interests of the child offenders and the public. The objective of this article is to analySe both the theories and their application by the Malaysian courts. Using text analysis methoi by analysing reported cases involving juvenile offenders, this article observes that the Malaysian courts prefer the deterrence theory rather than the rehabilitation theory when dealing with child offenders. This is because the application of the theoiy safeguards the interest of the public by securing them from any criminal threats that may endanger the society. Second, deterrent punishment may deter the offenders from committing the same offence in future. This article, however, maintains that the rehabilitation theoiy protects the best interests of the children. Unfortunately, the courts only apply rehabilitation theory of punishment for minor offences and to children of certain age. Although this theory has not been applied widely, the authors believe that rehabilitation theory has a great potential and may be developed as a framework for juvenile criminal justice system in Malaysia.