This paper aims to debate moral and legal dilemma embedded with plea bargaining (PB) and raises a question whether the approach of “PB” is a viable tool to tackle financial crimes and to what extent it contributes in recovery of stolen money. This paper critically examines the concept with reference to relevant laws of the USA, the UK, Pakistan and Nigeria. This study used legal scholarship, jurisprudence and other open source data to analyze issues in the application of PB as a viable tool in asset recovery and financial crimes. This paper provides that PB has certain moral and legal dilemma in terms of legality and punishment; the concept offers a sense of escape from criminal punishment by simply return of partial stolen money or “settlement” in exchange of discounted punishment even without imprisonment, thus incentivizing an offender. Further, the concept is unregulated, misapplied especially in developing world like Pakistan and Nigeria, where plea bargain laws are mostly manipulated by white-collar individuals. Therefore, this study recommends the amendment of relevant laws pertaining to PB; construction of “plea bargain handbook” to prevent arbitrariness and misapplication and to ensure transparency in its application; legislations like Speedy Trail Act; creation of “Fast Track-Model Courts” and a balancing system between “settlement” and “deterrence.” Perspectives on PB are brought to bear from financial crime and malpractice and recovery of stolen money.

The position of children out of marriage in everyday life by some people is seen as low, on the other hand in terms of welfare and civil rights still get limitations. This research focuses on the implementation of Constitutional Court Decision No. 46/ PUU-VIII /2010 on illegitimate children of Indonesian Women Workers. The research confirmed that the addition of Article 43 paragraph (1) made by the Constitutional Court through Decision No. 46/PUU-VIII/2010 is not only limited to the right to protection but has a very broad meaning that also includes illegitimate children born to Indonesian Women Workers. In accordance with the principle of equality before the law, the law must provide fair protection and legal certainty. The findings of this study revealed that illegitimate children of migrant workers can obtain constitutional rights as Indonesian citizens adhering to the principles of the rule of law. Therefore, the Constitutional Court’s decision does not only affect children’s inheritance rights, but also has implications for guaranteeing and protecting illegitimate children born to migrant workers, such as the right to earn a living, guardianship rights, and the right to get child support from a biological father.

People fly for several reasons. One of the goals is to obtain medical attention. This idea is known as “medical tourism.” In defending this concept, the notion of medical tourism is one of the prospects of increasing industries that have rapidly grown in Malaysia and other countries. One of the factors that led to this trend is the propensity to pursue better medical care at a lower cost. Around the same time, certain patients in modern society have begun to provide input on their medical care in cases where they are unable to give consent. Advance Medical Directive (AMD) is a particular directive containing the desires of a knowledgeable patient regarding his or her future medical plans if he or she becomes incompetent or unable to make any decisions regarding his or her body. However, the concern that arises in the sense of medical tourism is whether there are applicable laws in Malaysia that will ensure that the AMD of patients is enforced. The art of AMD is still relatively new in the country and, as a result, the legal status on the AMD is still vague and uncertain. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to define the laws that can be applied in relation to AMD in the context of medical tourism. The approach used in this article is qualitative. It found that Malaysia did not have a clear legal framework for AMD within the scope of medical tourism. This article concludes that this legal challenge can be overcome by means of the special AMD regulations on medical tourism in Malaysia.

Two recent developments in Brunei and Malaysia on hudud and qisas implementation have revived the keen discussion and debate on admissibility of qarinah. The Brunei monarch has already approved the hudud, qisas and ta’zir implementation and a special committee has already been set up to look into several substantive, procedural and administrative matters. In Malaysia, the Kelantan government is currently looking into some preliminary matters regarding hudud, qisas and ta’zir application in view of the recent Federal Government’s green light on the said syariah criminal law application. The said state government is already in the midst of engaging itself into important discussions with other relevant authorities on the said matter. In view of these two recent developments, this paper strives at analyzing the issue of qarinah admissibility in hudud and qisas cases. Attempt is also made in identifying some misconceptions on the said issue while coming up with some analytical response on dispelling the misconceptions. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2p141

A patient has the exclusive rights to determine what he wants or do not want to be done to his body. In this context, consent becomes a crucial factor that must be present before a doctor is allowed to treat his patient. Under the common law, an adult patient has the legal rights to determine the treatment that he wish to undergo and will subsequently consent to. This must be done when that patient still has the capacity to give consent and it must be given voluntarily without interference by any person. This relates to the rights of an individual patient to make decision autonomously whether to give consent or to refuse to give consent. In view of this legal position, the issue that will be the focus of discussion in this article is whether a patient who has the right to give consent also has the same right to refuse treament in Malaysia. Therefore it is the aim of this article to examine the law relating to consent to medical treatment by an adult patient in Malaysia together with the right of refusal.It is found that in order to exercise his autonomous power, a patient has the right to give or to refuse to give consent. This right exists even where the patient had lost his capacity to do so. The method of making the consent or refusal is known to the attending doctor (s) is an area that must be further researched on. This can be done by srutinising the role of an Advance Medical Directive in conveying the consent to medical treatment or the refusal thereof of an incapacitated patientand therole of the proxy appointed to execute the directive. Therefore this article can serve as a basis for the enactment of a specific statute addressing this issue. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s3p418

The incidence and severity of urinary tract infections (UTIs) due to spina bifida is poorly understood in Malaysia. Tethering of the spinal cord is a pathological fixation of the cord in the vertebral column that can result in neurogenic bladder dysfunction and other neurological problems. It occurs in patients with spina bifida, and the authors of this study sought to investigate the impact of untethering on the urological manifestations of children with a tethered cord, thereby consolidating a previously known understanding that untethering improves bladder and bowel function. Demographic and clinical data were collected via an online questionnaire and convenient sampling techniques were used. A total of 49 individuals affected by spina bifida participated in this study. UTIs were reported based on patients’ observation of cloudy and smelly urine (67%) as well as urine validation (60%). UTI is defined as the combination of symptoms and factoring in urine culture results that eventually affects the UTI diagnosis in spina bifida individuals irrespective of CISC status. Furthermore, 18% of the respondents reported being prescribed antibiotics even though they had no history of UTI. Therefore, indiscriminate prescription of antibiotics by healthcare workers further compounds the severity of future UTIs. Employing CISC (73%) including stringent usage of sterile catheters (71%) did not prevent patients from getting UTI. Overall, 33% of our respondents reported manageable control of UTI (0–35 years of age). All individuals below the age of 5 (100%, n = 14) were seen to have improved urologically after the untethering surgery under the guidance of the Malaysia NTD support group. Improvement was scored and observed using KUB (Kidneys, Ureters and Bladder) ultrasound surveillance before untethering and continued thereafter. Spina bifida individuals may procure healthy bladder and bowel continence for the rest of their lives provided that neurosurgical and urological treatments were sought soon after birth and continues into adulthood.