PETALING JAYA — Five teenagers linked to the death of T. Nhaveen, 19, can face the murder charge under the Penal Code but are unlikely to face the mandatory death sentence.

Senior lawyers said the suspects are protected under the Child Act 2001 which prohibits the death sentence to be pronounced or recorded against a person who is under the age of 18 when the offence was committed.

Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent said there have been cases in the past where minors had been charged with murder under the Penal Code, but when convicted were spared the gallows and instead had the sentences commuted to imprisonment.

The former deputy public prosecutor said for juveniles, they will be detained at the pleasure of the Ruler if they are found guilty, as stated under section 97 of the Child Act.

According to section 97 of the Act, the Ruler refers to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong if the offence was committed in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur or Labuan, or the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, if the offence was committed in the state.

The Act also states that any juvenile held under the pleasure of the Ruler will have their case reviewed at least once a year by the Board of Visiting Justices for that prison.

The board may recommend to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the Yang di-Pertua Negeri on the early release or further detention of that person.

Echoing the same opinion, Datuk V. Sithambaram said although juveniles are not punishable by the death sentence, they will undergo trial in the High Court.

"In Nhaveen’s case, since the case has been classified as murder, the child court has no jurisdiction to try cases of offences punishable with death,” he told Sunday Mail.

On Section 11(5) of the Child Act, he however pointed out that juveniles are still protected under the same Act.

"Although the trial is in the High Court, which is an open court, the juvenile’s identity will not be published, they won’t be standing in the dock and will not be handcuffed as per the protection for minor offenders,” he said.

Sithambaram said judges will usually make a ruling over such matters before the trial commences.

Counsel Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu said the five suspects in Nhaveen’s case are aged between 16 and 19, all of them can be charged in the High Court as the offence is committed together with an adult offender or offenders (above 18-years-old).

"But when it comes to sentencing, if they are convicted, for those minors when the offence was committed will fall under the disposition order of the Child Act,” he said.

Baljit said because a murder charge is a non-bailable offence, the minor suspects will be held in custody at the juvenile remand prison.

Lawyer Datuk Haziq Pillai said Malaysia is party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is an international treaty and, therefore, bound where death shall not be pronounced or recorded against a juvenile convicted of an offence.

"In most cases involving juveniles, when the sentence is meted out with a death verdict, it will not be carried out. In lieu, the minor will be detained at the pleasure of the Ruler,” he said.