New laws soon to deal with violence at home

Provisions will complement existing legislation, says AG

NEW provisions to deal with domestic violence are being prepared by the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), it was announced yesterday at the opening of the legal year 2009. The provisions, which will be based on consultations with the Community Development Department at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, are aimed at complementing existing legislation.

The initiative was made to curb domestic violence in the Sultanate as well as alleviate concerns raised by the public who had voiced out the need for a specific law to address the issue. Statistics provided by the Domestic Violence Unit of the Royal Brunei Police Force reveal that 150 cases of domestic violence involving spouses and children were reported last year, while 160 and 130 cases were recorded in 2007 and 2006 respectively, the attorney general disclosed.

At the opening ceremony held at the Supreme Court in the capital, Dato Paduka Hj Kifrawi Dato Paduka Hj Kifli said that although there is currently no specific law on domestic violence, the existing Penal Code deals with the usual misconducts that fall under domestic violence, such as causing hurt, assault and use of criminal force.

Speaking to The Brunei Times after the event, the attorney general said that the present legislation is there to deter those from committing crimes. He explained that even though there is no specific law on domestic violence, a man who kills his wife can still be charged with murder under Brunei's laws.

"So the comment that there is no law to deal with domestic violence is not true," he said in response to previous media reports where members of the public called for legislation on domestic violence to be drawn up.

"We have laws... the Penal Code, the basic criminal law (which) deals with these sort of problems," he added.

Dato Paduka Hj Kifrawi said that so far, the legislation has been effective in deterring husbands from abusing their wives.

The AGC, which views domestic violence as a serious matter, has made it compulsory for a criminal offence to be brought to court even if the victim of domestic violence chooses to drop the charges against the offender, which is common in these types of cases.

"At the moment, if the husband causes hurt to the wife, we are going to charge him in court. Even (if) later the wife wants to withdraw the charge, we say 'no, you go to court and tell the court that you want to forgive your husband'," he said.

The attorney general said that this was to prevent the husband from abusing his wife again. He elaborated by saying that by bringing the abuser to court instead of just receiving a warning from the police, the offender would realise the seriousness of his actions and be deterred from committing further abuse to his spouse.

During the opening ceremony, Dato Paduka Hj Kifrawi stressed the need to introduce a mechanism to ensure that a victim of domestic violence is protected from future abuse, while at the same time, "not treat the matter lightly short of bringing a criminal prosecution".

He noted that in most cases, the abuser is usually the breadwinner of the family and provides the sole source of income. Due to this, the victim and abuser often continue to live together, which may not be in the victim's best interest, especially after the abuser has been charged, thus worsening the situation.

In this respect, the attorney general hoped that the initiative will ensure that vulnerable members of the society are adequately protected.