By: Lukman Keenan Adar )*
The new version of the Criminal Code was ratified in December 2022. The old Criminal Code was irrelevant and did not keep up with the dynamics of the times, because it was drafted in the colonial era. The new Criminal Code brought a change in the paradigm of modern law and abolished colonial-style punishment.
The Criminal Code is a large book that contains articles that regulate criminal law in Indonesia. The new Criminal Code which is already legal, replaces the position of the old Criminal Code. Many people don’t know yet, it turns out that the old Criminal Code, which had been held for decades, was a translation of Dutch law when they colonized Indonesia. He is over 100 years old.
Indonesia must be constitutionally independent by means of the ratification of the Criminal Code, which is a bill made by Indonesian legal experts. The Criminal Code would bring changes to modern law and abolish colonial-style punishments that emphasized corporal punishment and revenge.
Chief Expert Staff Office of President Theofransus Litay stated that the Criminal Code Law brought Indonesia to modern criminal law. The characteristics of modern law reflect more on the values of the Indonesian nation which are sovereign, civilized and uphold human values.
Theofransus Litaay added, in modern law there are three types of justice. first, corrective justice, second, restorative justice , and lastly, rehabilitative justice.
Retributive justice is the administration of punishment to convicts, where crimes are directed against the state. Restorative justice regards crime as an offense against another person, and there is rapprochement with the victim and perpetrator. The goal is that there is no revenge.
While rehabilitative justice is the existence of rehabilitation or coaching for convicts. They are nurtured to become better human beings, with the hope that they will repent and become new human beings, and not repeat their bad deeds in the future (when released). During coaching, prisoners are also taught skills so they can be used as capital to open a business.
In modern criminal law it is not like before, where law was used as a venue for revenge, because when the old version of the Criminal Code was drafted more than a century ago those arrested were mostly natives. As colonized people, they were punished and tortured, and the Company used articles in the old Criminal Code as revenge.
Therefore, the public fully supports the Criminal Code because the new Criminal Code is a modern legal product and is in accordance with the current era of information technology. Cyber crime must be crushed with a new version of the Criminal Code so that people are free from fraud in cyberspace.
How strange it is when there are parties who insist that the ratification of the Criminal Code be cancelled. He did not study history and did not know that the same version of the Criminal Code was not suitable for high modern life technology , because it was made in the colonial era which was still agrarian.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, Mahfud MD, stated that laws must contain content that is in accordance with people’s lives. If society changes then the law must change. The goal is to suit the needs and awareness of people’s lives.
Mahfud MD continued, Indonesian society changed from a colonialist society to a nationalist one. Indonesia is already independent. Therefore, colonial law must be replaced by national law . Commands regarding the Criminal Code are contained in the 1945 Constitution. The RKUHP is also in accordance with Pancasila values, so it must be ratified quickly.
In a sense, the Criminal Code is a solution for society to comply more with criminal law in the modern era. For example, for the article on adultery in the Criminal Code. In the old version of the Criminal Code, it was not stated in detail what adultery meant and its punishment. However, the new Criminal Code mentions in detail what adultery is and the punishment is 6 months in prison.
Adultery referred to in the Criminal Code also includes same-sex relationships, which are not listed in the Criminal Code. Therefore the Criminal Code will protect Indonesian people from the ferocity of LGBT transmission, because it is against adultery and same-sex relationships. Do not let this nation be destroyed because of the rainbow.
When the old Criminal Code was drafted more than a century ago, same-sex adultery was not listed, perhaps because there were no perpetrators yet. However, times have changed and the global era has made promiscuity increasingly violent. Don’t let the absence of rules regarding the prohibition of adultery and forbidden relationships of the rainbow people, will make Indonesia change, from a democratic country to a liberal country.
Therefore, many parties support the ratification of the Criminal Code. The old Criminal Code was drawn up during the colonial period so Indonesia is not allowed to use it, because it is tantamount to returning to colonial times. Whereas in the new Criminal Code the regulations are more detailed and prevent all types of criminal crimes.
Society supports the Criminal Code because it brings a modern legal paradigm. Where colonial law was abolished and there was no longer any punishment with the revenge system, the new version of the Criminal Code was a product of modern law and could protect people from crime and criminal offenses.
)* The author is a contributor to Persada Institute
