KUALA LUMPUR – The Federal Court has ruled that it does not have the power to change or review decisions made by pardons boards about when a prisoner’s sentence should start.
Free Malaysia Today reported that a five-member panel, led by Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, decided that a previous court ruling, which allowed three drug convicts to have their prison terms start from their arrest date, was wrong.
Justice Ruzima Ghazali, who delivered the unanimous decision, said that the earlier court had gone beyond its powers by interfering with the work of the pardons boards.
“The pardons boards have their own authority, separate from the courts. Their decisions cannot be challenged in court,” he said.
This decision reverses a 2024 ruling by another Federal Court panel that allowed three convicts, Malaysian G Jiva, Thai national Phrueksa Thaemchim and Zambian national Mailesi Phiri, to have their 30-year jail terms start from the date they were arrested.
That earlier ruling had overturned the decisions of the pardons boards of Kedah, Penang and the Federal Territories, which stated that the 30-year terms would begin from the date their death sentences were commuted.
The prosecution later asked for a review, arguing that the court had no right to overrule a pardons board’s decision.
Justice Ruzima agreed, saying the law used in the earlier case, the Revision of the Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023, only applies to those still facing death sentences or life imprisonment “until death.”
Since the three had already received pardons reducing their sentences to 30 years, they no longer fell under that law.
Chief Justice Wan Farid added that the trio are not without options as they can still appeal again to their respective pardons boards to review their sentences.
He noted that the law allows pardons boards to review their own past decisions, and the Attorney-General, who sits on every pardons board, can advise on such matters.
Lawyers representing the three convicts said about 120 other prisoners are in similar situations, awaiting clarity on how their sentences should be calculated. – November 12, 2025