Literation in Manokwari, Professor of Law: The National Criminal Code Has Received Community Input
MANOKWARI – The government is still continuing to socialize the new Criminal Code (KUHP) in a number of regions in Indonesia, because there are still people who are against the ratification of the Criminal Code.
During the socialization of the Criminal Code at the Swissbel Hotel Manokwari, West Papua on Wednesday (8/2/2023), the Secretary General of the Indonesian Criminal Law and Criminology Society (MAHUPIKI), Dr. Ahmad Sofyan revealed that this socialization was designed not only to disseminate to the public, but also to have direct dialogue with the drafters about the new Criminal Code.
“This activity can also rectify a number of substances that are still considered doubtful, so that people get a comprehensive understanding of the new Criminal Code,” he explained.
During the socialization of the new Criminal Code which was held in cooperation and collaboration between MAHUPIKI and the University of Papua, the Chancellor of the University of Papua, Dr. Melky Sagrim emphasized that people need to know the new Criminal Code in order to understand things that are prohibited or not in the Criminal Code.
On the same occasion, Professor of Padjadjaran University, Prof. Romli Atmasasmita as one of the sources stated that the discussion on the new Criminal Code had received a lot of input from the public.
“The Government Team for Discussion of the Criminal Code received a lot of input from various elements of society through the “Public Hearing”. The implementation of a public hearing is one of the efforts to fulfill public participation in Article 96 of Law 12/2011 concerning the formation of laws and regulations. Not only that, the government also conducted a re-check as evidenced by the discovery of 14 crucial issues after receiving input from the public,” said Prof. Romli.
Furthermore, this Padjadjaran University Professor said that community participation is an important role because it has several points such as the right to be heard, the right to be explained, and the right to be considered.
The urgency of replacing the old version of the Criminal Code with the National Criminal Code, continued Prof. Ramli, is an important step because there is a paradigm shift to a retributive paradigm such as Corrective Justice, Restorative Justice, and Rehabilitative Justice.
“The formulation of the National Criminal Code is important because it is an embodiment of a comprehensive reform of the national criminal law system by adopting the values of Pancasila as the nation’s culture,” he concluded.
In line with that, Professor at the University of Jember, Prof. Dr. M. Arief Amrullah also said that the public must know why the Dutch-derived Criminal Code had to be replaced with a new Criminal Code that had been prepared by the best legal experts in the Indonesian nation.
“The reason is politically, if Indonesia still uses the old Criminal Code, it means that Indonesia is still a Dutch colony,” said Prof. Arief.
Meanwhile, Diponegoro University Professor, Prof. Pujiyono revealed, there are a number of actual issues in the National Criminal Code, including Living Law or customary law, abortion, contraception, adultery, cohabitation, obscenity, crimes against religion or beliefs and crimes related to freedom of expression.
According to him, the applicable customary criminal law or customary offense is based on empirical research and will become the basis for the establishment of regional regulations (Perda).
“The customary criminal law (delik adat) that applies is based on empirical research and will become the basis for the formation of regional regulations,” he said.
The new Criminal Code also includes criminal acts against religion or belief which are regulated in article 300. Related to this, the prohibited acts in this article are hostility, hatred, and incitement to commit hostility, violence, or discrimination against other people’s religions and beliefs
