History and Development of Death Sentencing in Indonesia: Current Policy and Regulations

Abstract

The controversies on death sentencing are not new. The debates over the existence of death sentencing policies and regulations can be flashed back to the existence of human beings. Many instruments have been created, discussed, and agreed upon to protect the use of death penalty sentencing through manifesting human rights. Death sentencing, under the current view, cannot be seen and treated outside the scope of human rights issues. Indonesia has issued Law No.1 of 2023 regarding the Criminal Code. Meanwhile, many countries have tried to abolish the use of death sentencing, and this new law on criminal law has incorporated death sentencing in its provisions and applications by courts. The research aims to discuss the death sentencing policies and regulations in Indonesia before and after the new Criminal Code issuance in 2023. The research is normative legal research that discusses death sentencing in Indonesia. The data used in this research are secondary, which consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary legal sources. Primary legal sources will consist of laws and regulations that were and are currently applicable. Secondary legal sources are writings and journal articles that discuss death sentencing in Indonesia, besides Law No.1 of 2023. Tertiary legal sources are other sources outside the above scope that may be useful to provide more understanding of the subject matters, such as web-based sources. Analysis was conducted using a qualitative approach to describe and explain the conceptual norm and its application to death sentencing. Findings and discussion proved that irrespective of the debate over the morality of death sentencing, Indonesia still recognized the use of death sentencing in some instances, such as premeditated murder, corruption, terrorism, narcotics, and illegal drug trafficking. They came from court decisions that followed prior laws and legislations before promulgating the new Criminal Code 2023.