History changes.yaml
Edited 1
descriptionJudges gained discretion to impose 30 to 40 years in prison insteadDrug trafficking carries discretionary death or life imprisonment under section 39B, with at least twelve strokes of the cane if death for drug traffickingis not imposed. The 2023 reform deleted the restrictions on the alternative sentence and reduced the whipping minimum from fifteen strokes. The presumption that 200 g of cannabis means trafficking was kept.[@1]
sourcesMalaysia Ministry of Health — Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, incorporating Act 846
Wikipedia — Cannabis in Malaysia
Countries and states 1 file
Malaysia countries/my.yaml
segments › sharing › textAny supplySupply is trafficking. Since July 2023 the death penalty for trafficking is, section 39B provides discretionary rather than mandatory; the alternative isdeath or life imprisonment — now 30; a person not sentenced to 40 years — withdeath also receives at least twelve strokes of the cane.[@dda]
segments › sharing › sourceshrw, mhdda
sourcesMalaysia — Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234), incorporating amendments up to Act 846 (Ministry of Health, Pharmaceutical Services, PDF)
Malaysia — Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234), incorporating amendments up to Act 846 (Ministry of Health, Pharmaceutical Services, PDF)
7 unchanged
Code, design and documents 2 files
docs/research/issue-corrections-186-204-2026-10-27.md +10 −0
@@ -153,2 +153,12 @@ ordinary possession, now explicitly limited in prose/answers rather than reassur
about every use location. An aggravated location offence alone does not prove a
change in ordinary small-possession sentencing practice sufficient for a new band.
+
+## #203 — Malaysian statutory life sentence
+
+Downloaded/read Ministry of Health Act 234 incorporating Act 846, printed p.38:
+39B(2) says death or imprisonment for life, plus at least twelve strokes if death
+is not imposed; (2A)/(2B) deleted. Removed the universal 30–40-year conversion from
+sharing and the 2023 event. Updated the official PDF URL. No statement that life
+means confinement until death, and no attempt to replace the statutory wording
+with case-specific resentencing outcomes. Existing visitor/enforcement wording
+already says death/life. Scores remain unchanged; death remains discretionary.
scripts/profile-claims.test.mjs +11 −0
@@ -450,2 +450,13 @@ test('Grenada public use distinguishes tickets, courts and school-area prison (#
assert.match(events().find(e=>e.id==='grenada-decriminalisation-2026').description,/twenty years on indictment/);
});
+
+// Issue #203
+test('Malaysia section 39B preserves the statutory life alternative (#203)', () => {
+ const text = country('my').segments.sharing.text;
+ assert.match(text, /death or life imprisonment/);
+ assert.match(text, /at least twelve strokes/);
+ assert.doesNotMatch(text, /30 to 40|30–40/);
+ const e = events().find(e=>e.id==='malaysia-mandatory-death-abolished-2023');
+ assert.match(e.description,/death or life imprisonment/);
+ assert.doesNotMatch(e.description,/30 to 40/);
+});