Laws such as the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) are in need of review to better handle juveniles, said Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said this when asked whether children should be handled differently under the two laws, given that minors who committed other criminal offences are handled differently compared to adults who commit the same offence.

“Various laws are used to tackle juvenile crime. We have laws on juvenile crime that I think are in need of a review because we can’t just punish them without educating them […]

“Therefore, I’m very much in agreement that actions taken should be brought in line with the existing juvenile crime law, and improved,” he told reporters during a press conference after officiating the Crime Prevention Education Convention in Kuala Lumpur today.

In a written parliamentary reply to Klang MP Charles Santiago on Nov 7 last year, Zahid said that 159 juveniles had been arrested under Poca and Sosma.

The two security laws allow for detention without trial.

Of the 159 arrested juveniles, he reportedly said that 142 were held under Poca, while the remainder were held under Sosma. No juveniles were held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015.

He reportedly did not provide the timeframe for these arrests.

At the press conference today, Zahid said the existing practice of admitting juvenile criminals to Henry Gurney Schools had been effective.

He said the juvenile convicts would be preparing to sit for various public school examinations in Henry Gurney Schools, instead of learning to commit a more serious crime in prisons.

He said the recidivism rate in such schools had been negligible.

There are three Henry Gurney Schools currently in operation in Malaysia. The schools were established in the 1950s to formally educate and rehabilitate juvenile inmates.