He said a special task force will be conducting holistic and independent checks on the law and organising consultation sessions with stakeholders to gather their views.

“The findings and the task force’s report will be presented to the monitoring committee before being handed over to the Cabinet.

“The study is expected to be completed in three months (by the end of 2019). The special task force had its first meeting on Sept 20,” he said in a statement today.

The task force, formed in August, comprises representatives of government agencies, academia, civil society and other relevant parties.

It will study the technical aspects relating to the abolition, apart from looking at alternatives to the maximum penalty.

Liew reiterated that this was in line with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) election manifesto and showed the government’s commitment to the protection and preservation of human rights.

The bill to repeal the mandatory death penalty was expected to be tabled in Parliament this month once the government had decided on appropriate prison terms for 11 serious criminal offences covered by it.

Currently, the 11 offences fall under two acts — nine under the Penal Code, including murder, waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and committing terrorist acts — and two under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971.