Chapter 1 – Report of the Policy, Law and Complaints Group Islamic teachings preached for the protection of individuals from unfair sanctions especially towards women and children relating to human rights and Islam. This initiative stemmed from several complaints relating to matters heard in the Syariah Courts, with the aim of further advocating human rights principles as espoused in Islamic teachings that call for the protection of individuals, especially women and children, from unfair sanctions. Subsequent to the meeting with JAKESS, the Commission held several meetings with Jabatan Kehakiman Syariah Malaysia (JKSM) throughout 2015 to formalise the arrangement and to fine-tune the necessary procedures in matters such as the appointment of legal representation on behalf of the Commission. A further meeting with Persatuan Peguam Syarie Malaysia (PGSM) was held on 18 September 2015 to discuss the appointment of lawyers from PGSM to represent the Commission at the watching briefs. The participants also deliberated on the standard operating procedures (SOP) that would be used as guidelines at the Syariah Courts. With the support of JKSM and JAKESS, the Commission hopes that by 2016, the Commission would be able to conduct watching briefs in Syariah cases to assist the court and dispense advice on human rights principles to Syariah Court judges. 7. ANTI-DEATH PENALTY In 2015, the Commission organised two meetings with representatives of religious associations and academicians in order to obtain views and input on the issue of the death penalty from the perspective of religion. The meetings were held on 9 April and 5 August. Various points were highlighted during the discussion, summarised as follows: (i) A representative from Persatuan Buddhist Kuala Lumpur & Selangor (PBKLS), highlighted its support for the abolishment of the death penalty as, according to Buddhism, a second chance and the opportunity to change should be offered to an offender. In principle, Buddhism does not support the imposition of the death penalty as it is in conflict with the teachings of Buddhism to respect life and that no one is allowed to take another’s life; (ii) A representative from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) indicated that the principle of the death penalty in the main Christian tradition is based on the ‘life-fora-life’ principle. However, over the past 40 years, many of the Christian movements 57 BOOK-ANR2016-01-latest.indb 57 08/04/2016 3:32 PM