From the rise of restorative justice to evidence-based approaches to reducing recidivism, the intellectual landscape of criminal justice has seen considerable change in recent decades. The result is that an increasing number of countries have tackled the task of shifting preexisting political institutions to confirm with these new understandings. This is, of course, no easy feat. A great number of challenges confront willing policymakers, a reality that often puts philosophy at loggerheads with practicality. Moreover, the political process of change is subject to the influence of cultural and institutional norms. In this paper, we look at one particular case study - that of Malaysia's juvenile justice system - to understand the challenges faced in changing criminal justice policy. We identify three primary categories of challenges and elucidate their shape and impact through the Malaysian example. We also briefly analyze potential opportunities to mitigate and overcome these challenges. Furthermore, we also conclude with several implications for future research that we deem are important to be taken place. In sum, we argue that criminal justice reform must be undertaken with an eye toward important societal and institutional norms, each requiring thoughtful analysis of complex local cases.