Indonesia’s criminal justice system still gravitates toward punitive action, penalizing wrongdoers in order to punish them, Secretary of the National Legal Guidance Agency (BPHN) at the Law and Human Rights Ministry Audy Murfi stated.

“This punitive criminal justice system is mirrored through prison overcapacity that has reached up to 103 percent,” Murfi noted at a national webinar uploaded on the FHUB Official YouTube Channel, observed from here on Wednesday.

Murfi believes this problem of overcapacity can be solved by applying restorative justice, for which he advised law enforcers to optimize the role of cultural or other institutions to solve problems.

Problem resolution would then prioritize rehabilitation, compensation, and restitution for victims, including those who endured human rights violations, he elaborated.

The problem surrounding the punitive criminal justice system is one of the four strategic issues in bolstering the national legal system since 2020 and will continue until 2024, he affirmed.

In addition to this, Murfi highlighted three other problems.

The first area of concern is that there are too many overlapping, inconsistent, ambiguous, and chaotic regulations that have resulted in legal uncertainty within the nation.

Secondly, Indonesia’s justice system, both criminal and civil, is not yet optimal in providing legal assurance and boosting the public’s trust.

Third, the civil justice system should be reformed, as Indonesia is ranked 146th out of the 196 countries in terms of contract enforcement.

Murfi explained that these strategic issues within the national legal system can be reformed through managing regulation, fixing the criminal and civil justice system, strengthening anti-corruption measures, and improving public access to legal justice.

Source: Antara News