Petitioner’s legal counsel delivering the revised petition on the judicial review of the Criminal Code on Tuesday (14/4). Photo by MKRI/IlhamWM.

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Jakarta (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court again held a material review hearing on Articles 603 and 604 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Ngarijan Salim (Petitioner), the owner of PT Al Ichwan Garment Factory, represented by Legal Counsel Muhammad Yani, delivered the revised petition on Case No. 96/PUU-XXIV/2026.

Yani explained that, in the petition, the Petitioner now elaborates on the alleged ineffectiveness of Article 2 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), as amended by Articles 603 and 604 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code. The core of the petition is then set out in more detail in the petitum.

“Primary: [the Petitioner asks the Court to] declare Articles 603 and 604 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code contrary to the 1945 Constitution and without binding legal force. Subsidiary: [the Petitioner requests the Court to] declare Article 603 in the phrase ‘Any person who unlawfully commits an act of enriching himself or herself, another person, or a corporation that harms state finances or the national economy’ contrary to the 1945 Constitution and conditionally without binding legal force unless interpreted as any person who gives a promise or offer or anything of value to a public official, directly or indirectly, so that the public official abuses his or her real influence with the intention of obtaining something or a benefit from an administrative or public authority for that person, another person, or a corporation which they are not rightfully entitled to obtain,” Yani read from the petitum.

The hearing was chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra, alongside Justices Adies Kadir and Liliek Prisbawono Adi.

Also read:

“Enriching Oneself, Another Person, or a Corporation” Phrase in Criminal Code Challenged

During the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, Muhammad Yani Rambe argued that the phrases “enriching oneself, another person, or a corporation”, “benefiting oneself, another person, or a corporation”, and “harming state finances or the national economy” in Articles 603 and 604 conflict with Articles 1 paragraph (3), 24 paragraph (1), 28D paragraph (1), and 28G paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. According to the Petitioner, these three key phrases have been applied and understood differently by law enforcement, with potentially fatal consequences given the vagueness of their concepts.

e maintains that in his corruption case, the Medan District Court found no proven, clear, and actual loss to state finances that could be shown to have enriched or benefited him, whereas the Supreme Court at one point referred to Article 3 of the Corruption Law but ultimately sentenced him under Article 2 paragraph (1).

“In the Petitioner’s view, the judex juris could not in good faith apply Article 3 of the Corruption Law, as he is not a state official, and that provision requires abuse of a specific authority linked to office or position, making it inapplicable to a private party. This reflects a conflict between provisions in the same law due to the absence of clear concepts in those articles and their substantive content,” Yani Rambe told the Panel.

On these grounds, the Petitioner asks the Court to declare the phrase “enriching oneself, another person, or a corporation” in Article 603 of the Criminal Code unconstitutional and without binding force unless interpreted as “enriching oneself, another person, or a corporation through bribery, embezzlement in office, trading in influence, or abuse of office/official functions.”

He similarly requests that the phrase “benefiting oneself, another person, or a corporation” in Article 604 be declared unconstitutional and without binding force unless given the same, narrower meaning. In addition, he asks the Court to hold the phrase “harming state finances or the national economy” in Articles 603 and 604 unconstitutional and without binding force.

Case tracking: Petition No. 96/PUU-XXIV/2026 (in Indonesian)

Author: Sri Pujianti.

Editor: N. Rosi.

Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario

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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