Browsing by Author "Nasimah Hussin, Ph.D"

This research aims to analyse restorative justice; as a concept, a philosophy, and a practice, in order to propose its incorporation into the Malaysian criminal justice system. The current criminal justice system in Malaysia, which comprises both civil and Syariah law, has been developed based primarily on punitive justice. As its focus is to punish offenders, other rights, especially those of the victims of crime and the community, appear to have been disregarded. The concept and philosophy of restorative justice shifts the focus, where rather than solely punishing the offenders, it seeks to restore the position of key stakeholders who suffered by the conduct of the crime; the victims, the offenders and the community. The same idea is found in Islamic criminal law where qisas for example, treats victims as the centre of prosecution, while sentencing such as repentance (at-taubah) allows the offenders to amend his wrongs, and the concept of al-‘Aqilah places collective responsibility on the members of the community. In Australia, for example, the practices of restorative justice include conferencing, mediation and circle sentencing. These practices provide opportunities for victims to speak on how the actions of offenders have affected their life whilst at the same time offenders can provide victims with psychological and financial support through a sincere apology and restitution. In addition, restorative justice contends that a non-custodial sentence can be effective in the rehabilitation of offenders. Such sentencing, which enables the offenders to undergo their punishment within their community, reintegrates them back into their community, rather than isolating them from that community as is the case with custodial sentencing. The analysis undertaken in this thesis found that the Malaysian criminal justice system has yet to incorporate the three practices, the law does provide avenues for victims to be heard through the practice of victim impact statement and other provisions that guarantee financial and psychological supports for victims. The practice of non-custodial sentencing, however, in Malaysia though commendable, has not been systematically practiced. Notwithstanding, the policy of the government is now clear and restorative justice is welcomed. Such a shift will require proactive efforts by the government and the introduction of facilitating policies and legislation. To achieve this, the research suggests that the best approach is to work on the existing restorative legal means and sentencing and develop it further by utilizing the experiences of other countries which have successfully integrated restorative justice into their legal system

The study discusses the application of penalties for crimes committed through social media in accordance with Kuwaiti law. The research problem is concerned with the inadequacies of Kuwaiti Law No. (63) 2015 to fight against the information technology crimes. It seems that the law pertaining to the procedural aspect in tackling these crimes is neglected, since it was based on the Criminal Procedures and Trials Law No. (17) 1960 and the amendment of such laws thereof. The importance of the study signifies that the crimes related to social media are contemporary topics, as these crimes develop with the development of technology. The research examines the concept of crimes committed through social media and the criminal responsibility of those who commit these types of crimes in Kuwait. The study also discusses the role of the Kuwaiti Government in combating crimes committed through social media in international legislation as well as that of Kuwaiti legislation. The research is based on a descriptive approach which includes describing the crimes related to social media as well as the laws and procedures in the State of Kuwait to combat these crimes. The research is also based on inductive approach; by extrapolating the laws of the legislative authority and the procedures of the Kuwaiti executive authority in combating social media crimes; extrapolating the laws to combat information technology crimes in the State of Kuwait; the supported laws and their effectiveness. The research concludes with a set of findings and recommendations, i.e. The application of the Kuwaiti audiovisual law on communication crimes should be set aside; Social media programs are considered a public place and the statutory limitations in social media crimes are different from that of traditional crimes. Among the research recommendations are there is a need for the establishment of a special department which is a subdivision of the judiciary to combat information technology crimes including social media crimes. In addition, the research recommends that some Paragraphs of the legal Articles on combating information technology crimes be amended.