Young offenders in Sabah / Mark Koding

• Main Author: Mark, Koding
• Format: Thesis
• Published: 1975
• Subjects: K Law (General)
• Online Access: http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/11655/1/Mark_Koding.pdf; http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/11655/

The writer's interest in the subject of Juvenile Offenders developed during his attachment to the courts at Kota Kinabalu in 1972/3. It was about this time that the Juvenile Courts Act, 1947 was revised and extended to Sabah. Before this, young offenders were treated in the same manner as adults. There were no Juvenile Courts and no remand Homes or Probation Hostels in Sabah then. The purpose of this paper is to examine how far Sabah has been able, during the 2 1/2 years after the application of the Juvenils Courts Act to Sabah, to provide facilities or the proper administration of justice for young offenders in Sabah. In the process of pursuing this attempt it is hoped that the reader will be able to gather some basic information about the position of juvenile delinquents in Sabah especially the answer to the question "Is juvenile delinquency increasing in Sabah" which concerns so many other countries including Malaysia. This Chapter is devoted to the historical legal development in Sabah in an attempt to dig out any information relating to the legal treatment of young offenders and the position of children prior to the introduction of the Juvenile Courts Act. No proper method in conducting research was adopted for this piece of work. Most of the information has been obtained by interviewing people of all walks of life. Unpublished Departmental circulars were also consulted. The writer has tried to put down in words his own observations, as a native of Sabah himself, of the position of children among the more primitive natives of Sabah.