Indonesian Criminal Code Explained

Legislature:Volksraad
Territorial Extent:Indonesia
Enacted By:Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies
Royal Assent:15 October 1915[1]
Date Commenced:1 January 1918
Amended By:People's Representative Council
Status:In force

The Indonesian Criminal Code (Dutch; Flemish: Wetboek van Strafrecht, WvS), commonly known in Indonesian as Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana (derived from Dutch), abbreviated as KUH Pidana or KUHP), are laws and regulations that form the basis of criminal law in Indonesia. By deviating as necessary from Presidential Regulation dated 10 October 1945 No. 2, it stipulated that the criminal law regulations that are in effect are the Dutch criminal law regulations that existed on 8 March 1942.[2] Currently, the Republic of Indonesia has its own Criminal Code, that is due to take effect in 2026.[3]

History

The Criminal Code, also known in Indonesian as KUHP or in Dutch as Wetboek van Strafrecht, are laws and regulations that regulate criminal acts in Indonesia. The Criminal Code that is currently in force is the Criminal Code which originates from Dutch colonial law, namely Wetboek van Strafrecht voor Nederlands-Indië. The ratification was carried out through the Staatsblad of 1915 number 732 and came into effect on 1 January 1918. After Indonesian independence from the Dutch in 1945, the Criminal Code is retained and are enforced by an alignment of conditions in the form of revocation of articles that were no longer relevant. This is based on the Transitional Provisions of Article II of the 1945 Constitution, which states that: "All existing state bodies and regulations are immediately enforced as long as new ones have not been enacted according to this Constitution." It was these provisions that later became the legal basis for the enforcement of all statutory regulations during the colonial period to the independence period.[4]

To reaffirm the enforcement of criminal law during those colonial period, on 26 February 1946, the government then issued Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning Criminal Law Regulations. This law was then used as the legal basis for changing "Wetboek van Strafrecht voor Netherlands Indie" to "Wetboek van Strafrecht" (WvS), which became known as the Indonesian Criminal Code. Nevertheless, in Article XVII of the act, there is also a provision which states that: "This law shall take effect for the islands of Java and Madura on the day it is announced and for other regions on the day to be determined by the President." Thus, the application of Wetboek van Strafrecht voor Netherlands Indie to Wetboek van Strafrecht is only limited to the regions of Java and Madura. The enactment of the Criminal Code throughout the territory of the Republic of Indonesia was only carried out on 20 September 1958, with the promulgation of Law no. 73 of 1958 declaring the Applicability of Law Number 1 of 1946 of the Republic of Indonesia in regards to Criminal Law Regulations for the Entire Territory of the Republic of Indonesia, and thus amending the Criminal Code. As stated in Article 1 of Law no. 7 of 1958 which reads: "Law No. 1 of 1946 of the Republic of Indonesia concerning Criminal Law Regulations declared applicable to the entire territory of the Republic of Indonesia.

Books and Chapters

First Book: on General Provisions!Chapters No.!Chapters (in English)!Chapters (in Indonesian)!Articles
IExtent of Operations of the Statutory Criminal ProvisionsBatas-batas Berlakunya Aturan Pidana dalam Perundang-undanganArt. 1-9
IICriminal PunishmentsPidanaArt. 10-43
IIIExclusion, Mitigation, and Enhancement of Criminal PunishmentsHal-hal yang Menghapuskan, Mengurangi atau Memberatkan PidanaArt. 44-52a
IVAttempts to Commit Criminal ActionsPercobaanArt. 53-54
VParticipation in Criminal ActionsPenyertaan dalam Tindak PidanaArt. 55-62
VIConjunction in Criminal ActionsPerbarengan Tindak PidanaArt. 63-71
VIIFiling and Withdrawing of Complaints for Crimes Prosecuted only upon ComplaintMengajukan dan Menarik Kembali Pengaduan dalam Hal Kejahatan-kejahatan yang Hanya Dituntut atas PengaduanArt. 72-75
VIIILapse of Authority to Prosecute and to Carry Out Criminal PunishmentsHapusnya Kewenangan Menuntut Pidana dan Menjalankan PidanaArt. 76-85
IXTerminologies Used in the Criminal CodeIstilah-istilah dalam KUHPArt. 86-102
-Concluding ProvisionsAturan PenutupArt. 103
Second Book: on Crimes!Chapters No.!Chapters (in English)!Chapters (in Indonesian)!Articles
ICrimes Against State SecurityKejahatan Terhadap Keamanan NegaraArt. 104-129
IICrimes Against Dignity of the President and the Vice PresidentKejahatan-kejahatan Terhadap Martabat Presiden dan Wakil PresidenArt. 130-139
IIICrimes Against Cordial Foreign States, Their Leaders, and Their AgentsKejahatan-kejahatan Terhadap Negara Sahabat dan Terhadap Kepala Negara Sahabat Serta WakilnyaArt. 139a-145
IVCrimes Against Performance of State Duties and RightsKejahatan Terhadap Melakukan Kewajiban dan Hak KenegaraanArt. 146-153
VCrimes Against Public OrderKejahatan Terhadap Ketertiban UmumArt. 153-181
VIFighting ChallengesPerkelahian TandingArt. 182-186
VIICrimes Against Safety of Other Persons and PropertyKejahatan yang Membahayakan Keamanan Umum bagi Orang atau BarangArt. 187-206
VIIICrimes Against Public AuthorityKejahatan Terhadap Penguasa UmumArt. 207-241
IXPerjury and False TestimonySumpah Palsu dan Keterangan PalsuArt. 242-243
XCounterfeit of Currencies and BanknotesPemalsuan Mata Uang dan Uang KertasArt. 244-252
XIForgeries of Seals and MarksPemalsuan Meterai dan MerekArt. 253-262
XIIForgeries of DocumentsPemalsuan SuratArt. 263-276
XIIICrimes Against Persons' Origins and MarriageKejahatan Terhadap Asal-Usul dan PerkawinanArt. 277-280
XIVCrimes Against DecencyKejahatan Terhadap KesusilaanArt. 281-303
XVFailure over Duty to RescueMeninggalkan Orang yang Perlu DitolongArt. 304-309
XVIDefamationsPenghinaanArt. 310-321
XVIIRevelations of SecretsMembuka RahasiaArt. 322-323
XVIIICrimes Against Personal LibertyKejahatan Terhadap Kemerdekaan OrangArt. 324-337
XIXCrimes Against LifeKejahatan Terhadap NyawaArt. 338-350
XXMistreatmentPenganiayaanArt. 351-358
XXICausing Death or Bodily Harm due to NegligenceMenyebabkan Mati atau Luka-luka Karena KealpaanArt. 359-361
XXIITheftPencurianArt. 362-367
XXIIIExtortion and BlackmailPemerasan dan PengancamanArt. 368-371
XXIVEmbezzlementPenggelapanArt. 372-377
XXVFraudPerbuatan CurangArt. 378-395
XXVIInjury to Creditors or Rightful ClaimantsPerbuatan Merugikan Pemiutang atau Orang yang Mempunyai HakArt. 396-405
XXVIIProperty Damage or DestructionMenghancurkan atau Merusakkan BarangArt. 406-412
XXVIIICrimes by OfficialsKejahatan JabatanArt. 413-478
XXIXMaritime CrimesKejahatan PelayaranArt. 438-479
XXIX-AAviation Crimes Crimes and Against Aviation Facilities and InfrastructureKejahatan Penerbangan dan Kejahatan Terhadap Sarana/Prasarana PenerbanganArt. 479a-479r
XXXPossession of Stolen Goods, as well as Crimes in Publication and PrintsPenadahan Penerbitan dan PercetakanArt. 480-485
XXXIProvisions Relating to RecidivismAturan tentang Pengulangan Kejahatan yang Bersangkutan dengan Berbagai-bagai BabArt. 486-488
Third Book: on Misdemeanors!Chapters No.!Chapters (in English)!Chapters (in Indonesian)!Articles
IMisdemeanors Against Persons, Property, and Public HealthTentang Pelanggaran Keamanan Umum bagi Orang atau Barang dan KesehatanArt. 489-502
IIMisdemeanors Against Public OrderPelanggaran Ketertiban UmumArt. 503-520
IIIMisdemeanors Against Public AuthorityPelanggaran Terhadap Penguasa UmumArt. 521-528
IVMisdemeanors Against Persons' Origins and MarriagePelanggaran Mengenai Asal-Usul dan PerkawinanArt. 529-530
VMisdemeanors Against the Duty to RescuePelanggaran Terhadap Orang yang Memerlukan PertolonganArt. 531
VIMisdemeanors Against DecencyPelanggaran KesusilaanArt. 532-547
VIIMisdemeanors Concerning Land, Vegetations, and PremisesPelanggaran Mengenai Tanah, Tanaman dan PekaranganArt. 548-551
VIIIMisdemeanors by OfficialsPelanggaran JabatanArt. 552-559
IXMisdemeanors in NavigationPelanggaran PelayaranArt. 560-569

Revision

Article of witchcraft

Article 293 of the Draft Criminal Code reads:[5]

Criminal law expert Barda Nawawi Arief, who took part in drafting the policy, said that this article is an extension of Article 162 of the Criminal Code which regulates the prohibition of assisting in criminal acts, which reads "Anyone who publicly orally or in writing offers to provide information, opportunity, or means to commit a criminal act, shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 9 months or a fine of up to Rp. 400,500."[6]

Although political figure Eva Sundari of the PDI-P party thinks that the law will find it difficult to prove someone has the power of witchcraft, so much so that this article is prone to criminalization,[7] criminal law expert from the University of Indonesia, Andi Hamzah, says that the proof does not require the pleader to bring a supernatural experts or priest, but to only bring witnesses who hear that someone claims to be capable of practicing witchcraft.[8]

The pros and cons of the witchcraft act have appeared since the 1990s.[9] Because of this, to deepened the understanding of the article on witchcraft, the People's Representative Council (DPR) conducted a comparative study to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia.[10]

Withdrawal

On 6 December 2022, the People's Representative Council voted to approve a new criminal code for Indonesia on the basis of decolonization, which repeals the old criminal code and its amendments. Initially, the new code was supposed to pass in 2019, yet amid a mass street demonstration across the country, the process was ultimately halted as the Indonesian President Joko Widodo had asked Parliament to revise problematic clauses.[11] The protest comes as the new criminal code introduced some controversial new laws, such as banning unmarried couple to cohabit; banning the defamation of the president, government ministers and agencies; banning of demonstration without notice; the witchcraft act (article 252); the privacy act (article 412), etc. Some human right experts has even called it: "a step backward in Indonesian democracy".[12]

The new penal code contains 624 articles, which the government claimed it had spent the past years gathering feedback from stakeholders, experts and the public following a nationwide protest against the code in 2019. The new code, which applies to Indonesians and foreigners alike, will not take immediate effect, but instead, three years after the bill is enacted into law, in which opponents can file requests for judicial review of the code to the Constitutional Court.[13]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Peraturan Menteri Ketenagakerjaan Nomor 13 Tahun 2022. Nihki. Prihadi. Peraturan Menteri Ketenagakerjaan Nomor 13 Tahun 2022.
  2. Web site: UU No. 1 Tahun 1946 tentang Peraturan tentang Hukum Pidana [JDIH BPK RI]]. peraturan.bpk.go.id.
  3. https://rasindogroup.com/pengesahan-ruu-kuhp-menjadi-undang-undang/
  4. Web site: DELIK PENGHASUTAN DALAM PASAL 160 KUHP. 3 June 2022.
  5. Web site: Witchcraft Act within the Bill to Amend the Indonesian Criminal Code.
  6. Web site: Content of the Witchcraft Act within the Bill to Amend the Indonesian Criminal Code.
  7. Web site: Anggota Komisi III Eva Sundari: Pasal Santet Rawan Kriminalisasi. detiknews.
  8. Web site: Can Witchcraft Be Proven? Explanation from UI Law Experts.
  9. Web site: Kembalinya Pasal Santet Halaman all. Kompas Cyber. Media. 20 November 2016. KOMPAS.com.
  10. Web site: Indonesia Parliament sent Representative to Europe to do Comparative Study on Witchcraft.
  11. Web site: Explainer: Why is Indonesia's new criminal code so controversial?. Kate. Lamb. Ananda. Teresia. 6 December 2022. www.reuters.com.
  12. Web site: Indonesia passes new criminal code, outlaws sex outside marriage. www.aljazeera.com.
  13. Web site: Is Indonesia headed in an ‘authoritarian direction’ with new criminal code?. 6 December 2022. South China Morning Post.