Komardin, Petitioner for the judicial review of the Criminal Procedure Code, outlining his arguments before the panel of constitutional justices at the preliminary hearing examining his petition, Monday (11/10/2025). Photo by MKRI/IlhamWM.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Advocate and entrepreneur Komardin filed a material judicial review of Article 5 of Law No. 8 of 1981 on the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) against the 1945 Constitution before the Constitutional Court. He argued that the provision fails to set any time limit for preliminary inquiry and investigation, nor does it stipulate sanctions for investigators who do not perform their duties in a timely manner. As a result, he claimed to have suffered losses because his reports alleging criminal acts have remained unresolved for years.

“The Petitioner has been harmed by Law No. 8 of 1981 on the Criminal Procedure Code, which does not provide a time frame for inquiry and investigation, nor sanctions for investigators who fail to complete their tasks within a reasonable period,” Komardin stated at the preliminary hearing of Case No. 204/PUU-XXIII/2025 held at the Court on Monday, November 10, 2025.

Komardin asserted that none of his reports alleging criminal acts, despite what he considers strong supporting evidence, had progressed to the investigation stage or even concluded the inquiry stage. These include allegations of unlawful control of rice-field land in 2017, evidence tampering in 2019, and the disappearance of certificates allegedly involving a notary’s staff in 2024.

He recounted repeatedly following up with the Makassar Metropolitan Police (Polrestabes Makassar), but to no avail. He even asked the investigators to issue an order to discontinue inquiry or investigation (SP3) if they could not proceed with the case, so he could report it to the South Sulawesi Regional Police (Polda Sulsel). This request was likewise ignored.

With no clarity after four years, the Petitioner submitted a complaint to the Makassar Police Investigations Oversight Division (Wasidik) on August 23, 2023. On September 5, 2023, he received a response from Propam, advising him to resubmit his report using the prescribed format. He did so on April 16, 2024, by sending a letter to the Chief of Makassar Metropolitan Police.

Following that letter, investigators facilitated a meeting between him and the reported party, who promised to settle the matter by May 2024. Yet the promise went unfulfilled. When Komardin contacted the investigator again on May 8, 2025, he received no response.

In his petitum, the Petitioner asked the Court to declare Article 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) unconstitutional insofar as it is not interpreted as he proposed. However, the formulation he submitted essentially repeats the exact wording of Article 5 itself, including the investigators’ authorities as well as their obligation to report the actions carried out to the investigator. In other words, the Petitioner’s requested interpretation is substantively identical to the original text of Article 5, without introducing any new normative meaning.

Justices’ Advice

The panel of justices, chaired by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat with Justice Enny Nurbaningsih and Justice Arsul Sani, provided several procedural notes.

Justice Enny advised the Petitioner to revise the petition in accordance with the structure required under Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 7 of 2025 on Judicial Review Procedures. She noted that the petition did not yet specify the relevant articles of the 1945 Constitution serving as the basis of the constitutional review. Consequently, the petition also lacked a clear explanation of the alleged inconsistency between the statute and the Constitution, which is essential to establish constitutional harm. “There is no explanation of the normative contradiction,” she remarked.

Justice Enny further observed that the petitum was irregular because the interpretation requested by the Petitioner essentially restated the very text of the article under review.

Before adjourning the hearing, Justice Arief informed the Petitioner that he had 14 days to revise the petition. The revised petition, both in softcopy and hardcopy, must be submitted to the Court no later than Monday, November 24, 2025, at 12:00 PM Western Indonesian Time.

Author: Mimi Kartika
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR: Raisa Ayuditha M.

Translator: Yuanna Sisilia

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.

 

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