The Law Enforcement of Moral Offenses in Malaysia: The Study in Sharia Criminal Enactment

摘要

Moral offenses are an important offence classification mentioned in the Malaysian sharia criminal offence enactment. There are a number of moral offenses provided under the said classification such as improper close proximity (khalwat ), incest, prostitution, acts of encouragingamoral behaviour, indecent behaviour in public, procurement (pimping) and others. This study is conducted through the means of documentation and scheduled interviews with the sharia chief prosecutors or sharia attorneys from selected states to study on the law enforcement in moral relatedoffenses. The results of this study showed that although the Sharia Criminal Code has provisions for various moral offenses, but in terms of implementation, the prosecution process only focused on a few provisions only. Besides, it is also found that there are various constraints that causethe ineffectiveness in the implementation of the prosecution. This article aimed to explain the reality in implementing sharia criminal law and to open the minds of many parties in order to be able to move toward a common goal of stabilizing and strengthening the implementation of the shariacriminal law.