The Department of Prison, Malaysia believes that Correctional Council could
help to review sentences from judges in the criminal justice system to ensure
a more standardised manner of sentencing crimes without leaving behind
human rights during the sentencing process. The length of the sentence which
is dependent to the court may contribute to overcrowding in prisons. The
Correctional Council would study sentences on the same offence and figure out
an average sentence which would later serve as a guideline for judges.
The Department of Prison, Malaysia views that judges might have their own
discretion in sentencing crimes, but the review on the nature of crime and the
sentence ordered by the judge is equally important to strike the right balance
on sentencing offences.
b) Higher education offered by the Indonesian prison to prisoners is
impressive where prisoners have access to various degree programs. On the
implementation of the right of prisoners to education, whether it is
specifically for convicted prisoners or for everyone?39
Mr. Sigit reiterated that educational programs offered in the prison are only
for convicted prisoners. Initially, classes were conducted offline. However, the
pandemic situation since 2019 has changed the scenario where classes are
conducted online. The Directorate General of Correction, Indonesia for
example works with local universities in Banten Province. Organisations such
as the Second Chance Foundation provides fund for the education of prisoners,
whereby prisoners would be hired to work with these organisations upon
release.
As for online services in the prison for inmates, the probation process is made
easy and convenient through the application of IT. It saves a lot of time at the
administration stage where it takes only a few hours to process as compared
to few days in the past.
c) On the notion of “prison is the best criminal farm of criminals”, what is the
proposal from the representative from Thailand about imprisonment and
drug-related offenses?
As for narcotics as the root of overcrowding in Thai prisons, it is important to
note that there is no local production of narcotics in Thailand as drugs are
imported from abroad.40 Mr. Roujanavong thinks that Thailand should
highlight the focus of enforcement on the prevention of drugs from being
imported into her border instead of arresting those who are involved with
narcotics and punishing them with a long imprisonment. He further elaborated
39
As for the Malaysian context, a remand prisoner has no access to sit for examination nor join any educational
program offered in the prison.
40
Amphetamines and heroin are imported from the Golden Triangle while cocaine mainly comes from South
America.
20