By: Hidayat Z. (Senior Contributor to the Saptalika Media Institute)
President Joko Widodo officially signed the Criminal Code (KUHP) after the draft was approved by the Indonesian Parliament on December 6, 2022. Based on a copy of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, President Jokowi signed this regulation on January 2, 2023. The latest Criminal Code consists of 37 chapters, 624 chapters, and 345 pages. Then, the Criminal Code is also divided into two parts, namely the article and explanation.
While the socialization of the new Criminal Code aims for the participants’ knowledge to be transformed to the wider community so that people get good knowledge. This of course should be appreciated.
The new Criminal Code will be enacted three years later after it is ratified. The Ministry of Law and Human Rights and other relevant stakeholders will form a team to disseminate information to the public during this transitional period. One of them was the socialization of the new Criminal Code which was held in Ternate, January 30 2023. Present at the socialization was Acting Director General of Laws and Regulations of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Dr. Dhahana Putra., Bc.IP., SH, M.Sc.), Professor of Criminal Law UGM, Prof. Marcus Priyo Gunarto, and a legal expert who is also Chair of the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Law UI, Dr. Surastini Fitriasih, SH, MH
Dr. Dhahana Putra said that the Dutch Colonial Criminal Code, or WvS , had been in use for a long time, namely since 1918, even though Indonesia was indeed colonized by the Dutch for 3 and a half centuries. This means that the Netherlands has been implementing WvS for quite a long time , since 1885.
There are five missions of the new Criminal Code, namely the first is open recodification , the second is harmonization, at which time Indonesia has a commitment related to human rights. Meanwhile, the third is modernization, the fourth is actualization. Furthermore, this Democratization is also very important for the balance between individual and social morality.
In addition, the Criminal Code becomes information that must be understood. The Criminal Code is quite interesting because there are works by Mulyatno and works by Soesilo . There are several missions of the Criminal Code, namely recodification , harmonization, modernization, actualization, and modernization. A change in the punishment paradigm will reduce over capacity in prisons through coaching or fines, not just criminal punishment.
There are a number of differences between the national Criminal Code and the Dutch version of the Criminal Code, or WvS. Prof. Dr. Marcus Priyo Gunarto, SH, M.Hum who is a UGM Criminal Law Expert explained that there are many advantages to the National Criminal Code when compared to the old Dutch-made Criminal Code.
The most fundamental change lies in Book I, because there is a paradigm shift regarding crime which is a means to an end, so that everything will change the context of criminal justice. In addition, the national Criminal Code starts from the principle of balance. In the context of protection, criminal law regulates or limits the arbitrariness of the authorities to vigilante citizens. One example is regarding cohabitation, there are people who believe cohabitation is prohibited, but there are certain groups of people who still do it. Then there are also other community groups who carry out vigilante raids. When it is determined as a complaint offense, it is limited who has the right to submit a complaint, and that becomes a middle way.
Regarding customary law, Prof. Marcus explained that, customary offenses or customary criminal law is a characteristic of Indonesian national criminal law. Even though customary laws are different, we are still one. So the differences from one region to another must be acknowledged, so our choice is that if so, customary offenses must be included in the national criminal law system.
Prof. Marcus also added that something new that needs to be noted regarding corporate crime liability is that it is not only imposed by those who enter the corporate structure but also includes those outside the corporation who benefit from or participate in controlling the corporation.
Dr. Surastini Fitriasih., SH, MH said that the new Criminal Code has several advantages, one of the most obvious of which is because it uses the Indonesian language. In contrast to WvS , which originally was in Dutch. Then a lot of translations were done, of course, there were more or less interpretations from each translator .
Another difference is that the new Criminal Code starts from the principle of balance and is an open and limited recodification of criminal law. Also, the new Criminal Code made by the nation’s children contains various innovations related to crime and punishment . Meanwhile, criminal innovations and punishments in the new Criminal Code have criminal purposes , then sentencing guidelines , double track system categories of types of crimes and actions then criminal categories and actions for adults, children and corporations, as well as forgiveness, justice or judicial pardon.
The new Criminal Code is a regulation that not only provides firmness, but also legal justice in Indonesia. One of them is the existence of alternative sanctions for perpetrators of criminal offenses. The advantage of the newest Criminal Code is that there are alternative sanctions. Prison sentences can be replaced with fines, fines can be replaced with supervision or social work. The reforms in the Criminal Code are very much in line with Indonesia’s pluralistic culture, so it is quite surprising that there are still parties who reject it. Therefore, it is hoped that the outreach carried out by the government can change the public’s wrong thinking and fully understand the urgency of implementing the new Criminal Code for the continuity of a just law in our beloved homeland.