Community Service Order for Children in Conflict with the Law: Theory, Legal Framework and Prospect in Malaysia

Community service order is one of the suitable order for children in conflict with the law. Unfortunately in Malaysia, this particular order still not been stipulated under the Child Act 2001 (Act 611) for the juvenile (under 18 years old). Eventhough Malaysian Governement had mentioned about their plan to implement this order, there is lack of legal research regarding this order, in terms of theoritical, legal framework and the implementation. Therefore, the objective of this article is to discuss the community service order in theoritical perspective, legal framework and the potential implementation towards children in conflict with the law in Malaysia. This article found that the community service order is based on the rehabilitation theory dan one of the leading orders that upheld the best interest of the child. With this order, the juvenile offenders would be integrated with the society and eventually would reduce recidivism rate and potentially rehabilitate them. This research is significant as it contributes to the development of the legal framework for the community service order of the children in conflict with the law in Malaysia.