Home minister can approve house arrest.
House arrest is already allowed under Malaysian law, and no new legislation is required for its implementation, according to Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms).
Citing the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), Azalina explained that Section 3 of the Prisons Act 1995 permits house arrest as a form of punishment.
“This section also grants the Home Minister the authority to declare any house, building, or space as a ‘prison’ for detaining individuals sentenced to jail,” she stated in a written parliamentary reply dated 5 March.
Minister can approve house arrest
“In other words, the Minister has the power to designate a home as a detention centre for prisoners, subject to the provisions under the Prisons Act 1995,” Azalina clarified.
Her response was directed at Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong), who had asked whether Malaysian law accommodates house arrest.
Lim also inquired about the declassification of meeting minutes from the Federal Territories Pardons Board regarding Najib Razak’s house arrest application.
Najib’s pardon board meeting minutes declassified
Azalina confirmed that the meeting minutes were declassified in January after Najib filed a judicial review to compel the government to execute a supplementary decree issued by the former King.
“The document has been declassified this year,” she said.
Najib, 71, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in August 2022 for misusing public funds linked to SRC International, a former unit of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). His sentence was later halved by the Pardons Board.
Government exploring house arrest law
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had previously mentioned, during his Budget 2025 speech, that the government was considering drafting a new law to formalise house arrest as an alternative punishment for certain offences.