The Role of Royal Pardon in Malaysia: An Analysis and a Way Forward

Royal Pardon is one of the prerogative rights of the King, Yang Di-Pertuan Agong in Malaysia. The granting of a royal pardon is sacred, as it will significantly shorten the punishment an offender deserves. The legal issues that arise are whether the advice of the Pardons Board is binding and whether the decision to grant a pardon will be judicially reviewed. An analysis was done about the rejection and granting of a royal pardon to Anwar Ibrahim, and also the pardon that was granted to Najib Razak recently. There are several weaknesses in Malaysia’s royal pardon system, and recommendations are provided by comparing it with those of Australia and Thailand. The problem is that there is a lack of clarity about Malaysia’s current royal pardon system to ensure justice is served. The research objectives are to analyse the current royal pardon system in Malaysia based on decided and ongoing cases, especially on Anwar Ibrahim and Najib Razak’s pardon process, and compare the royal pardon system with Australia and Thailand to improve Malaysia's current royal pardon system. The research adopts doctrinal-based research and comparative analysis to fulfil the objectives of the research.