LAW034 - Written Assignment (LAW& Order) PDF

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WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTLAWLAW & ORDER: SVUPI007KPREPARED FOR:MADAM CARTAZ UMMU SYAWAEDA BINTIJAIMANPREPARED BY:STUDENT NAME MATRIC IDHILMI HAKEEM BIN HASMILI 2021811508SHEIKH MUHAMMAD IRFAN ALLHABSHEE BIN CHEIBRAHIM2021857384NATASHA SYAFIAH BINTI MOHD HANAFI 2021652226DATE OF SUBMISSION : 12 NOVEMBER...

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WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT LAW034 LAW & ORDER: SVU PI007K07

PREPARED FOR: MADAM CARTAZ UMMU SYAWAEDA BINTI JAIMAN PREPARED BY: STUDENT NAME

MATRIC ID

HILMI HAKEEM BIN HASMILI

2021811508

SHEIKH MUHAMMAD IRFAN ALLHABSHEE BIN CHE IBRAHIM

2021857384

NATASHA SYAFIAH BINTI MOHD HANAFI

2021652226

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 12 NOVEMBER 2021

SEASON 1 EPISODE 22, LAW & ORDER: SVU

SUMMARY OF THE VIDEO The episode that is used as a reference is “Slaves”, Episode 22 from Season 1 of Law & Order: SVU. It tells a story of an enslaved woman who loses her freedom.

In this episode, a fruit stall owner arrives at a station to alert the Special Victims Unit (SVU) detectives to report a crime. He explains that a Romanian woman passed a note to him, begging for his help. According to him, the woman is being imprisoned against her will and forced to work for no money. It is later discovered that Ilena, a young Romanian woman, is being held captive by a white family, Mr & Mrs Morrow. Before Ilena comes into view, Mrs Morrow was the subject of her husband’s sexual torture. Later in the episode, it is revealed that Ilena arrives at New York City as an immigrant who intends to further her studies at New York University (NYU). During her stay in New York City, Ilena meets an American businessman named Mr Morrow in a disco in Bucharest. Yet, Ilena takes the job as a nanny for the Morrows to afford her cost of living but then is tricked to become a sex slave to Mr Morrow, replacing Mrs Morrow’s place. The family has enslaved and tormented her. After three years of missing, Ilena’s aunt, Constanta Condrescu tries to rescue Ilena from the Morrows but to no avail as Mrs Morrow drugged her tea with Beuthanasia, which is usually used to put animals to sleep, resulting Constanta to die. Even though Mrs Morrow was previously abused by her husband, she never helped Ilena because he had stopped hurting Mrs Morrow. She confesses that Mr Morrow keeps Ilena in a closet unless he is torturing her. The SVU detectives attempt to free Ilena from slavery. However, because Ilena suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, she refuses to report her captors to the authorities as she believes that she will face a big punishment by her “master”. This forces the detectives to find another way to apprehend the family.

ISSUE The first issue that arises is whether Mrs. Morrow and Ilena do not have the freedom of the right to live by their own choices? But in Ilena’s case, she does nott have both freedom from slavery and torture, and freedom of living as a normal human being. During the investigation, Mr. Morrow confessed both Mrs. Morrow and Ilena can’t urinate and eat without his permission.

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SEASON 1 EPISODE 22, LAW & ORDER: SVU

Furthermore, Mrs. Morrow stated that his husband, Mr. Morrow believed that Ilena makes things easier for him to commit the act of torture considering that Ilena is a foreigner and nobody would not even know that she existed. Thus, Ilena missed her opportunity to further her studies at NYU for the sake of being a nanny of the Morrow’s adopted child and also a victim of slavery for Mr. Morrow. The second issue here is whether Mrs. Morrow was being brutally sexualised and tortured by Mr. Morrow? Mrs. Morrow confessed that her torments stopped after Ilena came. The third issue is whether the Morrow’s killed Ilena’s aunt, Constanta Condrescu, by using beuthanasia. Constanta Condrescu paid a visit at the Morrow’s house after the SVU came to her house for Ilena’s interrogation. Mrs. Morrow was being manipulated by her husband to kill Constanta. After that, Mrs. Morrow made a tea that contains a sleeping drug and Constanta fell asleep. Then, she sedated Constanta with beuthanasia to silence her, resulting in her death.

LAWS Despite the fact that rape, torture, and sexual assault are now universally accepted to be widespread, they are still largely under-reported. Over the last several years, studies and research on the topic of sexual assault have grown in popularity, with many concentrating on changing attitudes against sexual violence and developing empathy for survivors. Similar to this particular episode of law & order which simply portray rape, torture, and sexual assault issue all in one episode.

As of today in Malaysia, there are lots of laws and penal codes that govern and regulate this particular issue. According to the Malaysian Penal Code, Sexual intercourse with a woman against her will or without her consent is characterised as rape. In addition, sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16 with or without her consent is also considered rape. In Malaysia, punishment for rape and sexual assault will be as followed in the Malaysian Penal Code 376 which has stated that rape offenders will face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, as well as a whipping. Besides that, people who commit rape in these circumstances may face penalties including imprisonment for a period of 10 to 30 years as well as whipping. If the rape offense causes hurt or puts the woman or another person in the fear of death the punishment will be as followed. There are more than 10 circumstances that the criminal can be categorised as under the

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SEASON 1 EPISODE 22, LAW & ORDER: SVU

Malaysian Penal Code Section 376. Under the circumstances that he is not permitted to marry the lady under the law, religion, or custom, the rapist who committed the offense might face a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 8 to 30 years and a whipping of not less than 10 strokes. Finally, the rapist who causes the woman's death can face capital punishment or a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison with a minimum of 10 strokes of the flogging stick. Although Malaysian law does not define sexual assault expressly, there are several laws that address various types of sexual assault. As an example, Penal Code Section 376B brings upon a maximum of 10 years imprisonment, or with fine and/or whipping which is sentenced to those who commit incest. Other than that, there is also the Child Act, Section 31 which states that the punishment for those who sexually abuse a child or cause or permit the child to be abused will be granted a maximum of 20 years imprisonment or a maximum RM 50,000 fine, or both.

Moving on to the next issue which is the act of torturing a human being. As of now, in Malaysia, there are no laws or legislations that bind society to commit the act of torture. What exactly is meant by the term ‘torture’? Based on (article 1) of the United Nations Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment, it is stated that 'Torture' is defined as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining information or a confession from him or a third person, punishing him or a third person for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is in It excludes pain and suffering caused only by, inherent in, or incidental to legal sanctions. According to Article 2 of the Inter–American Convention To Prevent And Punish Torture, torture is defined as "Any act willfully conducted whereby physical or mental pain or suffering is inflicted on a person for the purposes of criminal investigation, intimidation, personal retribution, as a preventive measure, as a penalty, or for any other purpose". In January 2016, seven people who had been held by the police came out of the shadows to inform the world about the heinous mistreatment they had received at the police headquarters in Bukit Aman. These seven captives were not alone in their revelations about being forced to conduct demeaning activities such as kissing a dirty floor, stripping, being forced to watch pornography, and performing sexual acts in front of the authorities. Another six captives revealed they had been subjected to identical torture

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SEASON 1 EPISODE 22, LAW & ORDER: SVU

a week later. The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), one piece of legislation in the country's arsenal of anti-human-rights legislation, which also includes the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota) and the Prevention of Crime Act 1959, was used to hold all 13 inmates (Poca). Concerns abound because these rules allow for varied periods of detention without charge and allow for torture and ill-treatment. Thus according to Suara Rakyat Malaysia's (Suaram) 2017 Human Rights Report, the number of deaths in police custody has decreased dramatically since 2016, however, the issue of torture, humiliation, or inhuman treatment in detention remains unresolved. Statistics and trends are easy to throw around, but one person lost or tortured as a result of inhumane treatment is one too many. To simply conclude because of the absence of sanctions or laws that have the ability to bind the society from committing torture act, the torture issues in Malaysia that are increasing dramatically is becoming worrisome as days goes by.

APPLICATION As for the application of laws in this particular episode of the series, Mr. Morrow can be guilty and charged under the Malaysian Penal Code Section 376, Penal Code Section 354 for committing assault or use of criminal force to a person with the intent to outrage modesty and committed rape crime which can be seen when he did this to Illena which can be classified as one of Mr. Morrow’s victim. He raped Illena under circumstances that caused hurt and put her in the fear of death. The punishment that can be charged towards Mr. Morrow under both of these penal codes is as stated. First, imprisonment for a term up between 10 to 30 years along with whipping under the Penal Code Section 376. Second, maximum 10 years imprisonment, or with fine and/or whipping under the Penal Code Section 354. The second crime that Mr. Morrow committed is the act of torturing Illena and his wife. As already stated above in Malaysia, there are no laws that specifically punish criminals who commit such acts. So, if this kind of case happens to be in Malaysia Mr. Morrow will most probably be charged under the same penal code for the criminals who commit sexual assault and rape. But in America, the same location as in the episode of this series, the crime of torturing Illena which Mr. Morrow committed will be charged under Section 2340A of Title 18, United States Code which prohibits torture committed by public officials under color of law against persons within the public official's custody or control. This Section or code is also called the ‘Torture’ act. The punishment that can be charged 4

SEASON 1 EPISODE 22, LAW & ORDER: SVU

towards Mr. Morrow under this particular section because of his crime is as stated in the code. He shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or life.

CONCLUSION All in all, Mrs. Morrow and Ilena do not have the freedom to live by their own choice. This is because they were enslaved and Mr Morrow violated their rights to speak and act freely. To put simply, they were stripped off of their freedom of expression. Other than that, they were tortured and abused sexually. This can be seen as an oppression that violates their personal rights and honor. However, due to the law that exists, Mr Morrow is liable to punishments that he deserves. This is why law is important in our daily life to protect everyone. The existence of law that is mentioned is a crucial tool to speak up for the victims and allows them to live their freedom as a human being.

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