Historical Context of Indonesian Criminal Law
📌 Indonesian criminal law history is rooted in the era of kingdoms, Dutch colonization, and post-independence.
📜 To avoid a legal vacuum after independence, Law No. 1 of 1964 was enacted, based on Article 2 of the 1945 Constitution's transitional provisions, to apply existing laws until new ones were established.
⚖️ The current Criminal Code (KUHP) stems from Law No. 1 of 1946, which abolished legal dualism and has been enforced across all Indonesian territory until now.

Understanding Criminal Law Definitions
🎯 Criminal law is generally understood in two ways: ius poenale (objective law) and ius puniendi (subjective law).
📖 Ius poenale consists of objective regulations outlining prohibitions and obligations punishable by penalties, divided into material and formal criminal law.
🔗 Ius puniendi is the state's right to punish individuals for prohibited acts, and this right must be based on ius poenale, ensuring the state cannot act arbitrarily.

Issues within the Draft Criminal Code (RUU KUHP)
😠 The RUU KUHP is seen as a colonial heritage, leading to political issues and widespread student protests on September 23, 2019, forcing the DPR (House of Representatives) to postpone its ratification indefinitely.
📉 Corruption (Article 604): The draft proposes lighter penalties compared to existing Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning Corruption.
🚫 Adultery and Cohabitation (Articles 417 and 419): These articles propose criminalizing extramarital relationships.
📱 Contraception Promotion (Articles 414 and 416): These propose penalizing the unsolicited promotion or demonstration of pregnancy prevention tools.
👨‍⚖️ Insulting the President (Articles 218–220): These articles concern attacking the honor and dignity of the President and Vice President and are considered problematic.
🚩 Sedition/Treason (Articles 77, 191–193) and Insulting the Flag (Articles 234 and 235) are also included and subject to controversy.
🤰 Abortion (Articles 251, 415, 469, and 470) is regulated, drawing significant critique.
🧍 Vagrancy (Article 31): This article penalizes vagrants with a maximum fine of IDR 1 million, which critics find excessively harsh for homeless individuals.
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Improper Sexual Conduct (Article 420): This article criminalizes indecent acts against persons of the opposite sex.
🐔 Animal Cruelty: The draft updates previous KUHP provisions, changing references from livestock to poultry in certain articles related to animal mistreatment.
💊 Narcotics: Articles 611–616 prioritize penal approaches over rehabilitation for drug issues.
🛐 Religious Offenses (Article 309) and Crimes Against Humanity (Articles 58 and 59) are regulated, noting that the draft fails to apply the non-retroactivity principle to severe Human Rights violations, with proposed sentences for genocide being 5 to 20 years, lower than the 10 to 25 years in Law No. 26 of 2000.

Solutions and Conclusion
🛑 President Jokowi announced on September 20, 2019, that the ratification of the RUU KUHP would be postponed, citing the need to further examine at least 14 problematic articles.
📢 Civil society groups criticized the postponement as inadequate, suggesting that true responsiveness would involve withdrawing the controversial revisions rather than simply pausing the process until public outcry subsides.
📜 Conclusion: While the current KUHP is over 100 years old and a Dutch creation, the revision process must be clear and precise, avoiding overly broad articles that could cause future controversy. The President must be firm regarding the postponement to prevent future conflicts arising from the controversial articles.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Indonesian Criminal Law is currently based on Law No. 1 of 1946, a legacy of the Dutch colonial era that independence sought to replace.
➡️ The RUU KUHP faced massive public opposition, particularly regarding articles addressing corruption penalties, adultery, and insulting the President.
➡️ President Jokowi ordered the postponement of the RUU KUHP ratification due to at least 14 sections requiring further scrutiny, though critics deem this move insufficient.
➡️ Future legislation, especially fundamental laws like the KUHP, requires absolute clarity in drafting to prevent ambiguity and renewed public controversy upon enactment.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Oct 11, 2025, 06:58 UTC