Ensuring justice for the wildlife
Published on: Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Cynthia D Baga
Abdul Rahman and others posing for a group photo after the launching.
Kota Kinabalu: The Wildlife Crime Sentencing Guidelines Calculator for Sabah and Sarawak Courts serves as a testament to enduring commitment to justice for the voiceless, which are the wildlife.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Rahman Sebli said the sentencing guidelines for wildlife crime serve several purposes which can be summarised as CAP (Consistency, Appropriateness and Preservation).
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“Consistency – the guidelines aim to ensure consistency in sentencing, which is vital for fairness in the criminal justice system.
“This consistency ensures that individuals who commit similar offences under similar circumstances receive comparable punishments, irrespective of factors such as geographic location or the judge presiding over the case.
“Appropriateness – the guidelines provide a framework for judges and judicial officers to determine appropriate penalties for offences against wildlife.
“Factors such as the severity of the crime, the impact on wildlife populations, the intent of the offender and any aggravating or mitigating circumstances have to be considered before passing any sentences.
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“Additionally, appropriate sentencing sends clear messages to the potential offenders about the consequences of committing wildlife crime, thereby deterring individuals from engaging in illegal activities that harm wildlife and encouraging compliance with wildlife protection laws.
“Preservation – the sentencing guidelines help uphold the conservation and protection of wildlife by holding offenders accountable for their actions.
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“By preserving wildlife populations through effective sentencing, healthy ecosystems can be maintained, which in turn support human wellbeing by providing essential ecosystem services,” he said.
Abdul Rahman was reading his speech during the launching of the Sentencing Guidelines Calculator for Wildlife Crime at Kota Kinabalu Court Complex, here, Friday.
According to him, the Sentencing Guidelines Calculator was developed based on the existing sentencing guidelines for wildlife crime in Sabah and Sarawak.
“The Sentencing Guidelines Calculator is currently at Phase 2 of its development into an artificially intelligent (AI) calculator and presently intended to aid and assist Sessions Court judges in calculating the penalty for wildlife offences based on the formula provided for in the sentencing guidelines for wildlife crime.
“The next phase of development is for data collection where the sentences passed based on the usage of the Sentencing Guidelines Calculator will be compiled.
“Based on our projections, the data collection will be ready at the end of 2026, and the element of AI will be incorporated into the Sentencing Guidelines Calculator for wildlife crime in 2027.
“As emphasised in my speech during the Opening of the Legal Year for Sabah and Sarawak in January this year, like any other technology, the system requires constant monitoring and enhancement to ensure that this facility remains secure, convenient and reliable to all stakeholders.
“We welcome constructive feedback from all stakeholders on the effectiveness and efficiency of this system.
“It is only through your feedback that we can further refine and improve on our infrastructure.
“Each of us plays an important role in combating wildlife crime. I hope for continued collaboration among all stakeholders in order to achieve our common goal – justice for wildlife,” he said.
The Wildlife Crime Sentencing Guidelines Calculator is the culmination of years of hard work since 2017 when the then Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak (who later became the Chief Justice of Malaysia in 2018), Tun Richard Malanjum took the initiative to form an Environmental Court Guidelines Committee for Wildlife Crime in Sabah.
The committee, comprising various stakeholders and experts, worked tirelessly and diligently to formulate a set of guidelines on sentencing for wildlife crime.
Their hard work came to fruition when the sentencing guidelines for wildlife crime in Sabah were finally launched in 2019 by the former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah.
Similarly, in the State of Sarawak, despite the challenging time of Covid-19 pandemic, the sentencing guidelines for wildlife crime in Sarawak was launched in 2022 by Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim when he was the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak.
Both the Sabah and the Sarawak Sentencing Guidelines for Wildlife Crime have incorporated the same formula to calculate the appropriate penalty for wildlife offences provided for in the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998, the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Rules 1998 and the Sarawak Wildlife (Edible Bird’s Nest) Rules 1998.
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