KPK, as a related party, was represented by the Head of the Legal Bureau, Iskandar Marwanto (left), who gave his testimony during the resumed hearing on the material review of Law No. 20 of 2025 on the Criminal Code on Thursday (2/7). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Jakarta (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) held another hearing on the material review of Law No. 20 of 2025 on the Criminal Code on Thursday, July 2, 2026. The sixth hearing of Case No. 89/PUU-XXIV/2026, filed by Martin Maurer (Petitioner I) and Leonardo Olefins Hamonangan (Petitioner II), was scheduled to hear testimony from the Corruption Eradicating Commission (KPK) as a related party.

Representing the KPK, Head of the Legal Bureau, Iskandar Marwanto, explained the Commission's sting operations involving judges. He used the cases of the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Depok District Court as examples. In the process, a debate broke out between the suspects and the team conducting the sting operation. Iskandar mentioned that in the case of catching the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Depok District Court red-handed, there was no need to seek permission from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

In other words, the KPK did not ask for a permission from the Supreme Court to conduct the sting operation as stipulated in Article 26 of Law No. 2 of 1986 on General Court as amended several times, lastly by Law No. 49 of 2009 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 2 of 1986 on General Court (General Court Law), which exclude the permission from the Supreme Court, if Chief, Deputy Chief and Judges of Courts are caught in the act to have commited a crime.

“The KPK seek for a permission from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to detain the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Depok District Court and the Supreme Court gave the permission by issuing a decree,” Iskandar explained.

Also read:

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During the preliminary hearing on Monday, March 9, 2026, the Petitioners argued that Articles 98 and 101 of the Criminal Procedure Code are inconsistent with the 1945 Constitution. Martin explained that arrest and detention are two of the nine forms of coercive measures regulated in the KUHAP. Coercive measures, in essence, constitute legal actions that restrict an individual’s freedom, not because of the position that person has, and must be based on objective and subjective requirements that serve as benchmarks for determining whether such actions are appropriate.

According to the Petitioners, an exception granted solely to judges could potentially create discriminatory treatment toward other law enforcement officials. Logically, Maurer continued, this raises the question of why such special treatment applies only to judges, while other professions also perform law enforcement functions—including prosecutors, the police, and advocates, insofar as they are positioned as law enforcement institutions or organs. Consequently, this situation potentially contradicts the guarantee of fair legal certainty as stipulated in Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.

In addition, the Petitioners believe that the phrases “arrest shall be based on the permission of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court” and “detention shall be based on the permission of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court” in the provisions do not provide equal opportunities to obtain legal guarantees and adequate legal protection due to the different treatment of citizens holding public office.

Case tracking: Petition No. 89/PUU-XXIV/2026 (in Indonesian).

Author         : Sri Pujianti
Editor          : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR               : Andhini S. F.
Translator     : Rizky Kurnia Chaesario/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.

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