Semarang – The President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Joko Widodo has officially ratified Law (UU) Number 1 of 2023 concerning the National Criminal Code (KUHP).
The new National Penal Code has a three-year transitional period after its promulgation. During this transitional period, the government together with related parties will socialize the Criminal Code to various elements of society in Indonesia.
In this case, the Indonesian Criminal Law and Criminology Society (Mahupiki) in collaboration with Semarang State University (UNNES), held a socialization of the new Criminal Code at the Patra Hotel Semarang, Central Java on Wednesday (1/2/2023).
The Secretary General of Mahupiki, Ahmad Sofian, in his opening remarks via zoom, revealed that this outreach was designed so that community groups and law enforcement, as well as academics and students, have a basic understanding of the Criminal Code Law.
Also a guest speaker at the socialization event was Professor of the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (FH UI) Professor Topo Santoso, Professor of UI Criminal Law Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, and Professor of Krisnadwipayana University Prof. Indriyanto Seno Adji.
On this occasion, Professor Topo Santoso explained the systematic structure of criminal law in the new or national Criminal Code. He explained that there are three fundamental pillars in the new Criminal Code.
“The triad of criminal law are the three most important parts of material criminal law, the first is a crime, the second is criminal responsibility, and the third is crime and punishment,” said Prof. Topo.
According to him, one of the differences between the new or national Criminal Code and the old Criminal Code or Wetboek van Strafrecht (WvS) is that discussions and academic texts have appeared in chapters or books on criminal acts, criminal responsibility, and criminal and sentencing.
Another source, Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, said that the new Criminal Code has a number of actual issues, including: Living Law, Abortion, Contraception, Adultery, Cohabitation, Obscene Acts, Crimes against Religion or Beliefs, Crimes related to Freedom of Expression.
Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Indonesia (UI), who is also a member of the team for formulating the new Criminal Code, said that there was a misperception from the public with the recognition that basic law had violated the principle of legality. This is completely untrue because living laws are provisions that have been discovered scientifically.
“There is a misperception from the public with the basic legal recognition that there is a deviation from the principle of legality. This is not true because living law is a provision that has been found scientifically, and there are limitations in accordance with the values of Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, human rights, and general legal principles that apply in the community of nations,” he explained.
Virtually, Prof. Indriyanto Seno Adji explained that the drafting of the Criminal Code Law was directed at an open and limited recodification policy that required opportunities for the development of criminal law beyond codification in the form of an independent law.
Meanwhile, he continued, the existence of a special crime chapter in the Criminal Code Law does not reduce the authority of law enforcement agencies which have been regulated in the law. []