A Study on the Application of Rehabilitation Theory in Islamic Law and Criminal Law for Child Offenders in Malaysia

Every person who has been accused of an offense must be punished under the legal
framework including child offenders. In Malaysia, there are two courts that have the
jurisdiction to hear and determine all such actions and proceedings involving child
offenders namely the Court for Children and the Syariah Court. Both courts have
different jurisdictions and procedures provided by the Enactments and Acts. Therefore,
the objective of this study is to examine the application of rehabilitation punishment to
the child offenders under Islamic law and criminal law in Malaysia. The study has used
qualitative methods in collecting and analysing data through document analysis, field
studies and interviews. Document analysis is from books, writing articles, journals and
previous reported cases. Subsequently, this study has conducted field studies at Sekolah
Henry Gurney Telok Mas, Melaka and the Syariah Lower Court of Kuala Selangor.
This study also conducted interviews with the Police Officers of the Sekolah Henry
Gurney Telok Mas, Melaka and the Judge of Syariah Lower Court of Kuala Selangor
in order to analysis the data obtained. The results of this study found that the Court for
Children has a jurisdiction to hear and determine all criminal offences and proceedings
involving child offenders except for the offences listed under the jurisdictions of the
State whereby the State that has given the jurisdiction to the Syariah Court to hear and
determine all criminal offences and proceedings that related to Islamic matters and
Muslim. This study also found that both courts are inclined to impose rehabilitation
punishments to the child offenders and one of the forms of punishment is to order the
child offender to be sent to rehabilitation schools. The results of the field studies also
found that there were differences in the procedures and modules that had been applied
at the Sekolah Henry Gurney Telok Mas, Melaka and Pusat Pemulihan Aqidah Baitul
Iman, Hulu Yam Selangor. This study has contributed to a theoretical understanding of
the differences between the application of rehabilitation punishment to child offenders
under Islamic law and criminal law in Malaysia. This study of opinion that the module
that has been applied at the Pusat Pemulihan Aqidah Baitul Iman, Hulu Yam Selangor
is need for enhancement because it will be implemented on the child offender who has
been convicted by the Syariah Court by providing a complete guidelines and legal
framework specifically in terms of education of such child offender.