Managing unethical prosecutorial conduct

• Published in: Advanced Science Letters
• Main Author: Hamin Z.; Othman M.B.; Rani A.R.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Scientific Publishers 2017
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85032193918&doi=10.1166%2fasl.2017.9609&partnerID=40&md5=6df90eb4d5ceb124bd56b07003814f1d

In 2010, the plea-bargaining process was introduced in Malaysia to reduce the delay in the disposal of criminal trials, to reduce the backlog of such cases and to promote an efficient delivery of justice to the accused. The process enables the accused to negotiate charges or sentences with the prosecutors in exchange for some concessions from the latter. However, the process is controversial given the concerns that prosecutors might abuse the process which raises some ethical issues in the practice of plea bargaining. This paper employs a doctrinal analysis and secondary data from academic journals, books, and online databases. Through the content analysis of the relevant legislation and decided cases, management and criminological literature, this conceptual paper seeks to examine the unethical prosecutorial conduct in the plea-bargaining process. The authors contend that despite the judicial oversight in some cases in Malaysia, without any other procedural safeguards, guidelines and policy, the prosecutorial unethical conduct and abuse of the process will continue and procedural justice for the accused and the crime victims alike will remain elusive in the years to come. © 2017 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved.