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Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul chairing the virtual panel hearing of the judicial review of Article 288 of the Criminal Code, Wednesday (28/7/2021) in the plenary courtroom. Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

Wednesday, July 28, 2021 | 13:42 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) held another judicial review hearing of Article 288 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and Article 293 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of the Criminal Code (KUHP) for case No. 21/PUU-XIX/2021 on Wednesday afternoon, July 28, 2021. The hearing had been scheduled to hear the revisions to the petition.

Before the panel chaired by Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul, Leonardo Siahaan (Petitioner I) conveyed the revisions to the petition following the justices’ advice at the previous hearing. He also added several pieces of evidence on a sexual harassment case.

“In evidence P5, the victim was 19 years old. When the decision was passed, the judges ruled that at the age of 19 one was categorized as a minor when, in fact, we had included the Child Protection Law where it is stated that a 19-year-old is a minor. It means that Article 293 paragraphs (1) of the Criminal Code would lead to different interpretations, including those by prosecutors and judges. This, of course, leads to legal uncertainty,” he explained.

Also read: Provision on Sexual Harassment Complaint Filing Challenged

At the preliminary hearing, Christian University of Indonesia’s (UKI) law students Leonardo Siahaan and Fransicus Arian Sinaga (Petitioners I and II) challenge Article 288 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and Article 293 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of the Criminal Code (KUHP). They asserted that the articles are multi-interpretive and unconstitutional. Petitioner I stated that both articles were multi-interpretive and didn’t provide clear legal certainty. He expressed his concern for his female sibling, who is vulnerable to sexual harassment of a minor and to domestic violence due to the lack of legal certainty.

The Petitioners feel that the vague age limit in Article 288 shown in the phrase “not yet marriageable” could lead to a debate. Therefore, in their petitum, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare Articles 288 and 293 of the Criminal Code along the phrases “a minor” and “not yet marriageable not legally binding. They also requested that the Court declare Article 293 paragraph (2) conditionally constitutional.

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Andhini S. F.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 7/28/2021 18:22 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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