Corruption in the Private Sector

Member of the YLBHI Board of Trustees, Former Member of the Governing Board of the Indonesian National Law Commission

Corruption and bribery as a manifestation of greed, dishonesty, lack of dignity, lack of integrity, and loss of professionalism in a person have basically damaged the entire state order.

The impact of corruption and bribery is the loss to the state and the loss in public trust, especially if those involved are law enforcers, who should instead enforce law and justice. Those who know the law should set an example and should not instead give an example of breaking the law or playing with the law. Their crime is serious and the most dangerous compared to other crimes.

No less important, the bribery in the private sector also often occurs, but has not received much attention, even forgotten. Internationally, the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) has regulated bribery in the private sector and Indonesia has ratified it through the issuance of Law Number 7 of 2006.

There are no rules yet

The bribery in the private sector in UNCAC, for example, is illicit self-enrichment, such as wealth embezzlement in the private sector, private sector bribery, and trading in influence. Even so, a number of points included in bribes in the private sector are non-mandatory or there is no agreement among participating countries to declare such acts as criminal acts. With such a non-mandatory nature, Indonesia has not yet issued regulations in combating bribery in the private sector.

In 2016, the Indonesian Supreme Court issued Regulation No. 13 of 2016 concerning the Procedure in Handling Criminal Cases in Corporations, but this regulation has not comprehensively covered the handling of corruption in the private sector. Therefore, Indonesia needs to consider issuing a separate regulation on the handling of bribery in the private sector.

Moreover, based on the existing survey, the level of bribery in the private sector in Indonesia is quite worrying. At the end of 2018, the National Development Planning Minister /Head of National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Bambang Brodjonegoro said that about 80 percent of corruption cases that occurred in Indonesia involved the private sector. The deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) also said in 2017 that the private sector was ranked first in corruption cases during the 2014-2016 period.

Indonesia lags behind other countries. The bribery in the private sector has been regulated in many countries and has its own criminal sentences, both in the Criminal Code (KUHP) and in separate laws. For example: since 1967 the Dutch have included the policy of sentencing the people involved in bribery in the private sector into its Criminal Code. In 2016, Switzerland also included a policy of sentencing in the bribery case in the private sector into its Criminal Code.

In the UK, bribery in the private sector has been included in the Anti-Bribery Act in 2010. In addition, neighboring country Malaysia has already issued a special law relating to bribery in the private sector, namely the Anti-Corruption Act of 2009. In these countries, the bribery in the private sector is regulated because it is considered very damaging and detrimental to the business sector.

Commitment

In general, the incessant eradication of corruption has disturbed corruptors and people who live dirty, do not respect honesty and only care about their personal interests, and they are actually anti-nationalism.

The room for corruptors is getting narrow, especially with the cleansing of judicial institutions where a large number of judges and court clerks, even lawyers, have been arrested.

The government must support the KPK in eradicating corruption that has been deep rooted in this country, both involving officials and the private sector. If all government agencies and institutions support and carry out the eradication of corruption together with the KPK, the snowball effect of the eradication of the corruption will free the country from corruption, or at least the corruption rate can be reduced as much as possible.

Indeed, the salary of law enforcers and judges must get an attention in such a way as in other democratic countries so that they are protected from the temptations of bribers who use them for their own interests.

On the other hand, the corruption in Indonesia cannot be completely resolved if the government does play its role in eradicating the bribery that occurs systematically in the private sector and even in various fields of life, such as economics, social, religion and culture.

The law regarding bribery in the private sector must be comprehensively formulated, and accommodate all existing provisions at UNCAC. Then, the national anti-corruption movement will be even more powerful and difficult to contain. Corruption cases in the private sector should also be handled by the KPK, not the Indonesian police. In addition to legislation on bribery occurring in the private sector, the panel of judges in the court must provide a severe sentence against corruptors. It is important because light sentences such as a two-year prison sentence for corruptors in large corruption cases are truly incompatible with the anti-corruption spirit in this country.

Living in a simple lifestyle that has long been echoed by state officials is also not effective because it is defeated by the lifestyle of a corrupt, hedonic, consumeristic, and materialistic corruptor. Even after being convicted by the panel of judges, the nature of greed also could not be eliminated from the corruptors. This can be seen from the news in the mass media, where the convicts of corruption can get privileges in the jails as long as they can pay more.

The conclusion is that there is no such thing as a deterrent effect for perpetrators of corruption. Famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in "The Flower that Smiles Today" said; ”The flower that smiles today, tomorrow dies; All that we wish to stay, tempts and then flies; What is this world ’s delight? Lightning, that mocks the night, briefs even as bright.” Corruptors who read this paper must be aware that the desire to collect material is only temporary and not eternal, later everything will disappear in an instant like lightning in the middle of the night.  (Frans H Winarta, Member of the YLBHI Board of Trustees, Former Member of the Governing Board of the Indonesian National Law Commission)