The Federal Court has commuted the death sentence of a youth convicted of the murder of German-born Australian businessperson Hans Herzog more than two decades ago, to 35 years in prison.

Judge Zabariah Yusof ordered the jail term of Low Kian Boon, now 39, to begin from the date of his arrest on Nov 13, 2003. She also ordered Low, who was just 18 when the crime was committed on Nov 12, 2003, to be given 12 strokes of the rotan.