Socialize the National Criminal Code in Semarang, Academics: Forms of Indonesian Criminal Law Reform
Semarang-Indonesian Criminal Law and Criminology Society (MAHUPIKI) conducted socialization of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (KUHP) in Semarang on (1/2/2023).
The resource persons in the socialization included a number of Professors in Criminal Law from the University of Indonesia (UI), namely Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, Professor of the Faculty of Law UI, Prof. Dr. Topo Santoso, and Professor of Krisnadwipayana University Prof. Dr. Indriyanto Seno Adji.
In his presentation, Prof. Topo, conveyed that 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.
“In the national Criminal Code, some are similar to the old Criminal Code, but one of the new ones is the emergence of discussion of criminal acts using intermediary tools that did not exist before,” he said in the Socialization.
He added that the development of the era that allows criminal acts to occur through sophisticated intermediary tools or artificial intelligence has been regulated in this national Criminal Code.
“Apart from that, capital punishment is no longer the main punishment but a special punishment with a 10-year trial period which can then be changed to life imprisonment with a record of the President’s approval,” said Prof. Topo.
Likewise, Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, said that in this new Criminal Code there are five missions, namely open and limited recodification, democratization, actualization, modernization, and harmonization.
He explained that open recodification was carried out because there was still the possibility of other provisions to be included.
“On the principle of open and limited codification, article 187 of the New Criminal Code states that the First Book of the Criminal Code also applies to acts that are punishable under provisions of statutory regulations outside the Criminal Code, unless otherwise determined according to the Law (UU),” he said.
Another resource person who attended online, Prof. Indriyanto Seno Adji explained that the preparation of the Criminal Code Law was directed at an open and limited recodification policy that required opening up opportunities for the development of criminal law beyond codification in the form of an independent law.
“The specificity of specific criminal acts lies in the principle, formulation of criminal law norms and criminal penalties which must be recognized as deviating from existing standards of criminal law and general punishment,” said Indriyanto.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of Mahupiki, Dr. Ahmad Sofyan hopes that this outreach can reach all levels of society.
“This event is a means of dialogue on the substance of the aspects of concern so that the public understands it completely and in depth directly from the experts of the drafting team,” he concluded.
In line with Dr. Ahmad Sofyan, Deputy Chancellor for Academic Affairs Unnes Semarang, Prof. Dr. Zaenuri Mastur stressed the need for an understanding of the urgency of reforming the Criminal Code in the current era.
“Updating the Criminal Code is urgently needed as a legal reform according to what the Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights said, including that it must adapt to the times, be oriented towards modern criminal law, and guarantee legal certainty,” he added.
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