Some long-awaited good news: Malaysia has announced its decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty. In a statement, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar revealed that the government has agreed to this decision with a substitute sentence to be imposed at the discretion of the courts. We first discuss the impact of this landmark decision. Then, we look at what needs to be done to shore up our other institutions to support this moving forward.

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