KUCHING: The Sarawak courts are now equipped with extensive guidelines on sentencing for wildlife crimes in the state.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim said the newly-launched Sentencing Guidelines for Wildlife Crimes in Sarawak would help to ensure consistency and fairness in prosecution for wildlife-related crimes.
He said the guideline will help reduce problems such as disproportionate and unjustified disparities in respect to sentences imposed on offenders who committed the same offences in more or less similar circumstances.
“The guideline does not in any way interfere in the exercise of discretion of the court when passing a sentence.
“The effectiveness of Sentencing Guidelines can be seen in two ways; through the experience of judges and judicial officers who use it in their daily court duties and secondly, perhaps through a comprehensive study on the trend of sentencing imposed by the courts in past cases.
“For the first method, I am sure our Sessions Court judges in Sabah would be able to share their experiences with their brothers and sisters in Sarawak on how the Sentencing Guideline has helped them improve their assessment in meting out proper sentences. For the second method, I am proposing that the Courts Working Groups on Environment in both states prepare a report on consistency of sentencing for all wildlife offences under the existing legislations. This will help us update the Sentencing Guidelines from time to time,” he explained.
He said this when launching the Sentencing Guidelines for Wildlife Crimes in Sarawak at the Kuching Courthouse, here yesterday (Jun 16).
Abang Iskandar also pointed out that sentencing in wildlife crimes cases has also been the subject of public scrutiny.
He noted that sentences imposed were considered to be somewhat inconsistent, inappropriate as well as lenient when the high profits made and significant harms caused by the offence were taken into account.
“That said, it must be emphasised that sentencing is very much discretionary, which must be exercised judiciously based on established legal principles.
“A number of factors must be considered – the seriousness of the offence; the degree of harm or damage caused; the degree of culpability of the accused; the mitigating and aggravating factors – these are to be judicially weighed and balanced with a view to achieving a justified and proper sentence.
“So, coming up with a guideline on sentencing is a step in the right direction,” he asserted.
