Bid to make preventive laws more effective

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry is looking at amending the country’s preventive laws, including the Restricted Residence Act 1933, to make them more relevant and effective.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the ministry was also looking for suitable legislation to replace certain laws, among which, were no longer suitable in this age of rapid information technology advancement.

“It cannot be denied that in a borderless world, restricted individuals can easily contact their criminal friends through the communication tools available, so we need to look at different approaches and methods to penalise offenders by  amending the  relevant laws  accordingly,” he said in reply to a question from Datuk Idris Haron (BN-Tangga Batu) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Hishammuddin said the enforcement of restricted residence on individuals was not under the jurisdiction of the courts as there were no Acts or laws that gave the courts such power.

Instead, he said, there were certain legal provisions that gave the Home Ministry the power to issue an order for restricted  residence  on any individual arrested by the police.

“Among the laws are the Emergency Ordinance (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) 1969, Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985, Restricted Residence Act 1933 and Prevention of Crime Act 1959.”

He said 130 people are now under restricted residence, including 23 in Negeri Sembilan, 17 in Terengganu, 11 in Pahang and 16 in Johor.

Hishammuddin said imposing restricted residence is more of a preventive and rehabilitative approach rather than a punishment as   welfare   assistance  and motivation are provided to those involved.

“So   far,   there     have   been no problems in implementing  the  residency  restriction   as  the individuals adhered to the order, including reporting to the nearest police  station regularly.” — Bernama

According to the minister, the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programme would be used as a Key Performance Indicator for his ministry next year.

He also urged the public and non-governmental organisations  to   assist  the programme to ensure its effectiveness. — Bernama