Dewan Rakyat passes Sexual Offences Against Children amendment Bill 2026, closing overseas loopholes

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — The Dewan Rakyat today passed the Sexual Offences Against Children (Amendment) Bill 2026, extending the Act’s jurisdiction to cover offences committed outside Malaysia.

The Bill was passed with a majority vote following debate by 25 government and opposition Members of Parliament yesterday.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran said the amendment to expand extraterritorial application will ensure that offenders with ties to Malaysia cannot evade justice simply because their crimes were committed overseas.

Winding up the debate, he clarified that the amendment does not mean Malaysia will automatically assume jurisdiction over all foreign cases; the country where the offence occurred retains primary authority to investigate and prosecute under its own laws.

“If reports are filed in both countries, the authorities will consult and cooperate through international channels to determine the most appropriate action, based on the facts of the case, available evidence, witness locations and the interests of justice,” he explained.

“If a Malaysian citizen is detained abroad, including at an airport in that country, the initial action falls under the laws of that nation. This amendment aims to prevent overlapping proceedings and ensure that offenders do not slip through the legal net,” he said.

Elaborating further, Kulasegaran said that if the individual is later brought back to Malaysia, any prosecution here would depend on whether the conditions for extraterritorial application under the Act are met, the sufficiency of evidence and the decision of the Public Prosecutor.

Addressing concerns raised by several MPs regarding offenders who return to Malaysia after being investigated overseas, he stressed that authorities will not compromise in upholding justice.

“There will certainly be further investigations carried out in this country... the police are well aware of the situation, and if necessary, the individual will be detained and further inquiries conducted. There will be no compromise in ensuring justice is served,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kulasegaran said the government has not specifically defined the term “permanent resident” in the amendment, in order to maintain flexibility in determining an individual’s status based on the facts and circumstances of each case.

Such a determination, he said, typically takes into account various factors, including length of stay, centre of family life, education, employment and the individual’s level of integration with Malaysia.

“If an overly detailed definition is written into the Act, it could limit discretion and create too narrow an interpretation, ultimately undermining the Act’s primary objective of providing comprehensive protection for children.

“Therefore, the government believes this approach is more appropriate to ensure that every case is decided fairly on its own merits and circumstances,” he said.

On the issue of stateless children, which was also raised during the debate, Kulasegaran stressed that the amendment does not limit protection for any category of children.

He said the use of the phrase “any child” makes it clear that the focus of the amendment is to protect all children and to ensure that offenders with links to Malaysia cannot evade legal action simply because of jurisdictional or border issues.

“In short, this amendment extends Malaysia’s jurisdiction so that sexual offenders with ties to Malaysia cannot use national borders as a shield from justice. That is the purpose and spirit of Clause 2 of this Bill,” he concluded. — Bernama