Petitioner Meidiantoni, a civil servant at the Finance Ministry’s DGT, challenging Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, Monday (9/25/2023). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held a preliminary hearing for the material judicial review of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP) on Monday, September 25, 2023 in the plenary courtroom. The case No. 109/PUU-XXI/2023 was petitioned by Meidiantoni, a state civil apparatus (ASN) of the Directorate-General of Taxation (DJP) of the Ministry of Finance.
The hearing was presided over by Constitutional Justices Manahan M.P. Sitompul (panel chair), Wahiduddin Adams, and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh. At the on-site hearing, the Petitioner conveyed that most of the materials in the 2023 KUHP enacted by the House of Representatives (DPR) on January 2, 2023 had several weaknesses. Among them are the changes in the concurrence of criminal acts from the KUHP to the 2023 KUHP, and catch-all articles in the 2023 KUHP.
“Article 12 paragraph (3) in the current KUHP [stipulates that] imprisonment for a certain period may be imposed for 20 consecutive years in terms of crimes for which the judge may choose between the death penalty, life imprisonment, and imprisonment for a certain period, or between life imprisonment and imprisonment for a certain period. It also applies to imprisonment exceeding 15 years for example for the offenses of theft, rape, and murder at one time,” he explained.
In his petition, the Petitioner explained that there has been a loss of legal protection due to the concurrent criminal acts with a maximum imprisonment of only twenty years or fifteen years. Thus, a person who committed many criminal offenses up at one time cannot be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
Moreover, there is a loss of prosecution, because death penalty or life imprisonment comes with only one charge of an article or two charges of articles of the KUHP. Then, there is a loss of legal certainty, given the catch-all articles in the 2023 KUHP.
In the petitum, the petitioner in his petition stated replacing the old KUHP with the new KUHP was akin to a man replacing his wife with a new one who is beautiful but does not really take care of the husband. In that case, the new KUHP looks better but still has weaknesses especially regarding concurrent criminal offenses.
The Petitioner hoped that the House of Representatives (DPR) would again merge the two KUHPs into a single, better one. He also asked the Court to revoke Law No. 1 of 2023 on KUHP so that all of its articles are null and void.
Justices’ Advice
Responding to the petition, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh advised the Petitioner to elaborate on the Constitutional Court’s authority. “The bases [for the Court’s authority] are the Constitution, the Judicial Law, the Constitutional Court Law, Law No. 11 of 2011 last amended by Law No. 13 2022, and the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 2 of 2021,” he explained.
He also highlighted the Petitioner’s legal standing and asked him to explain his constitutional rights and/or authority allegedly impaired by the enactment of the Law.
“Your material review petition seems emotional, sir. You have to point out which article, which paragraph or which part [is unconstitutional]. If it is the material review of most of the (KUHP), we don’t know which part to review,” he continued.
Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams also said the same thing and advised the Petitioner to read PMK No. 2 of 2021. “Please read PMK No. 2 of 2021, because it explains the examination and procedure for a judicial review petition of a law,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Manahan M.P. Sitompul advised the Petitioner to revise the “subject matter of the petition” related to the article under review. In addition, he also asked the Petitioner to observe previous decisions of the Constitutional Court.
“You have to mention the articles (being challenged). You did not mention it here,” he said.
At the end of the hearing, Constitutional Justice Manahan informed the Petitioner that he has 14 workdays to revise the petition and submit it to the Registrar’s Office no later than Monday, October 9, 2023.
Author : Utami Argawati
Editor : Nur R.
PR : Andhini S. F.
Translator : Tahlitha Laela/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Monday, September 25, 2023 | 17:48 WIB 99