Explained: Can a person be charged in a Malaysian hospital instead

Photo courtesy of Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Did you know that an accused person can be charged or face trial while hospitalised in Malaysia, instead of waiting for them to appear in court?

Here’s what criminal lawyers told Malay Mail about when and why this can happen:

Key details

1. Can an accused person be charged in a hospital ward?

Senior criminal lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan confirmed this can be done.

“Yes, the ward can be declared as open court and the proceedings can take place as if one was in the actual court concerned,” he said.

Why it matters in Malaysia

Besides hospital wards, Sivananthan said a person could also be charged at other locations outside court.

“You can declare any place as an open court.”

He cited three legal provisions that enable this: Section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), and Sections 15 and 15A of the Courts of Judicature Act (CJA).

Sections 7 and 15 enable “the place” where any court is held for a criminal case to be treated as an “open and public court” where the public generally may have access, while Section 15A further enables court proceedings to be conducted online.

Based on Section 15, Sivananthan said it is possible for a court to decide to charge someone outside a courtroom while disallowing public access to the hospital ward by deciding that the matter is “in camera” or to be held privately.

Section 15 states that the court can decide to hear a case “in camera” for reasons such as the interests of justice, public safety, public security or propriety.

Former Malaysian Bar president Salim Bashir Bhaskaran said an accused would in “ordinary circumstances” be charged in a courtroom, but the Subordinate Courts Act gives magistrates and Sessions Court judges the power to declare “an open space or confined areas like hospitals, nursing homes” or police stations or prisons as a court.

Section 76(3) of the Subordinate Courts Act states that a Magistrates’ Court can be held at any other place if there is a need to do so, while Section 59(4) similarly says a Sessions Court can be held at any other place if the necessity arises.

Criminal lawyer Rajsurian Pillai said an accused person can be charged at a physical location other than the usual courtroom, including at a hospital.

“This has happened on previous occasions in Malaysia. Therefore, there is nothing inherently irregular about a hospital being the physical venue where a charging proceeding takes place,” he told Malay Mail, adding that court proceedings before judges would not be invalid just because they are held outside a courtroom.

He said this is consistent with Sections 173(a) and 178(1) of the CPC, which require an accused person to appear or be brought before a magistrate or High Court judge for the charge to be read and explained before a plea is recorded.

“Neither provision makes the physical courtroom itself the essential requirement.”

“Accordingly, where an accused is hospitalised or otherwise physically unable to attend the usual courtroom, the court may, where appropriate, conduct the relevant proceedings at another location, taking into account matters such as the accused’s medical condition, the urgency and circumstances of the case, and the interests of justice,” he said, noting that this would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

He stressed that the important point is that a High Court judge or judicial officer — a Sessions Court judge or magistrate — is conducting the proceedings, and that the usual procedural and legal safeguards for criminal cases are complied with during proceedings held outside the courtroom.

2. Prosecution has to apply to charge an accused in hospital

17 August 2026