Listen to the People – Again

ANTARA FOTO/HAFIDZ MUBARAK

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chairman Agus Rahardjo (second left) receives the results of a petition from the chairman of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah Youths, Virgo Sulianto Gohardi (second right), witnessed by former KPK Deputy Chairman Mochammad Jasin (left) as well as a number of anti-corruption activists who are members of the Anti-Corruption Civil Coalition in the KPK building, Jakarta, Tuesday (5/6/2019). The Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition rejected the inclusion of an article on corruption in the Criminal Code Bill that was considered to weaken the KPK in eradicating corruption in the country.

Salus populi suprema lex. This Roman maxim asserts that the public interest reigns supreme: The voice of the people must be the highest priority.

The relevance of this historical principle is apparent as the 2014-2019 House of Representatives (DPR) nears the end of its term. Before then, the public representatives intend to complete a number of remaining bills, including the Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP). Discussions over the bill have lasted for nearly 46 years.

Kompas published the initial article on the bill, "The Department of Justice Drafts the Criminal Code Bill", on 5 June 1973. The bill was to replace Law No. 1/1946 on criminal procedure that was codified as the Criminal Code (KUHP) that remains valid to date.

The government has continued to work on the criminal code bill from time to time, but it has only been deliberated at the DPR in the last four years. The Criminal Code Bill might be the most prolonged bill that has been discussed by the government and the House. The House and the government thus want to reach agreement on the this month and in doing so, mark the end of the 2014-2019 legislature.

However, many issues surrounding the RKUHP must be resolved before it can be enacted. The bill is also believed to be out of alignment with the people\'s expectations, especially as regards guaranteeing public freedoms. In short, the RKUHP is a threat to freedom.

ANTARA FOTO/MOHAMMAD AYUDHA

A resident signs a banner protesting against violence against women in Solo, Central Java, Sunday (12/9/2018). The action was to encourage the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately approve the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence to provide protection for women and reduce the number of sexual violence cases.

The RKUHP is a threat to press freedom, Kompas wrote on Tuesday (9/3/2019). Aside from threatening press freedom both directly and indirectly, the substance of the RKUHP also threatens individual freedoms, weakens law enforcement in cases of gross human rights violations and still contains pasal karet – articles that have multiple interpretations.

In addition, the RKUHP still includes articles on insulting the president, or haatzaai artikelen (anti-hate clause), the elimination of which the Constitutional Court had ruled in 2006. In fact, the government said it would not include the haatzaai artikelen in the new draft of the KUHP bill (Kompas, 7/8/1974). The public views the article’s inclusion as a setback to criminal procedure in the country.

Enacting the RKUHP is indeed an urgent need, because the prevailing law still refers to colonial Dutch law. Moreover, we already have Law No. 8/1981 on Criminal Procedure. The problem is that criminal procedure is regulated in several separate laws, and not under a codified umbrella on criminal law. Enacting the RKUHP would be a milestone for the government and the House.

However, the desire to achieve a milestone must be forsaken. That people still object to it means that the bill still contains unresolved issues. Remember: the public interest must be the supreme law. The RKUHP must be deliberated calmly, and it does not need to be forced into law. Let the people be more involved.