Caning in Malaysia

Caning is used as a form of legal corporal punishment in Malaysia. It can be divided into at least three contexts: judicial/prison, school, and Sharia (Syariah). Of these three, the first two are largely a legacy of, and are influenced by, British colonial rule in the territories that are now part of Malaysia, particularly Malaya.^[1] Similar forms of corporal punishment are also used in some other former British colonies, including two of Malaysia's neighbouring countries, Singapore and Brunei.

Judicial caning, ordered as part of a criminal sentence imposed by civil courts on male criminals, is the most severe of the three types of caning. It is always ordered in addition to a prison sentence for adult offenders. Male convicts who were not sentenced to caning earlier in a court of law may also be punished by caning if they commit aggravated offences while serving time in prison.

In primary and secondary schools, male students who commit serious offences may be punished with a light rattan cane.

Malaysia, being a Muslim majority country, has a separate justice system its Muslim population. Under this system, Sharia courts can sentence Muslim men and women (including Muslim foreigners) to caning for committing certain offences. In Malaysia, offenders are caned by same sex. Sharia caning is much less severe as compared to judicial caning and is designed to humiliate the offender rather than to inflict physical pain. This form of caning is also practised in Indonesia's Aceh Province, where it is more common.

Malaysia has been criticised by human rights groups for its use of judicial caning, which Amnesty International claims, "subjects thousands of people each year to systematic torture and ill-treatment, leaving them with permanent physical and psychological scars".

Caning, as a form of legally sanctioned corporal punishment for convicted criminals, was first introduced to Malaya (present-day peninsular Malaysia and Singapore) by the British Empire in the 19th century. It was formally codified under the Straits Settlements Penal Code Ordinance IV in 1871.

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