Steep increase in sexual offences against children during pandemic

PUTRAJAYA: Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said there was a steep increase in the number of cases on sexual offences against children during the Covid-19 pandemic in the past two years.

She said the number of registrations of such cases have increased by almost 42 per cent between 2020 and 2021.

"Sexual offences against children are a serious problem and in this regard, the judiciary has had dialogues with the executive about establishing more sexual crime courts to hear these cases.

"This will entail an increase in the number of posts allocated to the judiciary to sit in these courts.

"We hope this step will help bring down the numbers," said the top judge in her speech at the Opening of the Legal Year 2022, here, today.

The first special criminal court which deals with cases involving sexual crimes against children was launched in Putrajaya on July 22, 2017.

The court was the first of its kind not only in Malaysia, but in Southeast Asia.

In April, 2018, Sarawak became the second state in the country to have a special Criminal Court on Sexual Crimes Against Children.

Meanwhile, Tengku Maimun said street crime cases have been on the steady decline between 2017 and 2021.

"2021 recorded the lowest number with a 57.5% drop in the number of registrations.

"Perhaps the imposition of the various movement control orders and the resulting lockdowns left no one on the streets to commit such crimes which might explain the reason for the drop," she said.

She also said there were inconsistencies in the number of corruption cases registered between 2017 and 2021, with some years recording more cases than others.

However, she said the total number of cases registered in 2020 and 2021 showed a slight increase.

"As corruption is a scourge in society, it is important that this area is closely monitored as it is a measure of the nation’s health and image, both domestically and internationally," she said.

She said there has been no major changes in the number of drugs cases recorded.

In fact, she said there was only a very slight increase in registrations between 2020 and 2021 which was about 1.8 per cent.

"The number of cases registered between 2017 and 2021 seem to be the same.

"It appears that the 22 deterrent sentences imposed for these types of offences including capital punishment have not been effective in curbing this category of crime," she added.

On commercial cases, Tengku Maimun said there has been a decline between 2017 and 2021 and the drop from 2020 and 2021 was about 6 per cent.

She said however, only a total of 5,305 cases were recorded, last year, compared to 119,258 in 2017.

This, she said was an alarming drop of about 53.6 per cent over a short period of five years.

She said commercial cases are of significance, as they are to some extent an indicator of the country’s economy as disputes are some measure of active business and trade.

"The judiciary in turn remains committed to uphold access to justice and we will continue to decide cases without fear or favour in line with the rule of law and the supremacy of the Federal Constitution," she said in concluding her speech.