Responding to the ratification of the revised Criminal Procedure Code (RKUHAP) at the House of Representatives (DPR) today, Amnesty International Indonesia Deputy Director Wirya Adiwena, said:
“Today's ratification of the revised Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) marks a serious setback in the state's commitment to respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights. Rather than being a milestone for reforming a more modern and just procedural law, this revision demonstrates a worrying regression.
The drafting process proceeded with minimum transparency, even manipulating public participation, despite repeated calls from civil society for the DPR and the government to slow down the revisions to the existing KUHAP in order to produce a quality and just regulation.
“Moreover, the DPR only uploaded the draft of the ratified KUHAP less than 24 hours before its ratification. This certainly makes it very difficult to engage with civil society meaningfully.
The substance of the revised KUHAP is ridden with problematic articles that widen the scope for abuse of authority by law enforcement officials, particularly the police. Citizens can be positioned as suspects at any time without adequate protection.
Moreover, the newly enacted KUHAP determines the right to legal aid based on the severity of the criminal threat. Yet, access to legal aid, whether in pre-trial, detention or at the investigation stage, is a fundamental principle of the right to a fair trial.
On the other hand, the revised KUHAP grants the authority to arrest and detain people without court permission, thus increasing the possibility of arbitrary actions, such as those seen in the wave of mass arrests following the August 2025 demonstrations. This violates the rights to defence and a fair trial.
Likewise the provisions on undercover purchases, undercover operations and controlled delivery operations are carried out under the supervision of investigators without limitations on the type of crime and without judicial oversight. These investigative methods open opportunities for the entrapment of citizens, thereby engineering the commission of crimes and their perpetrators. Crimes are created in situations that would not have occurred without entrapment.
The revisions also allow for the arrest and detention of citizens during the investigation stage when there is no certainty that a crime has occurred yet.
Therefore, instead of strengthening justice, respect for the rule of law and the right to a fair criminal trial, the current revisions to the KUHAP actually places officials in a dominant position without adequate accountability mechanisms, while citizens are increasingly vulnerable to state arbitrariness.
If forced into effect on January 2, 2026, without a transition period and infrastructure readiness, these revisions to the KUHAP have the potential to create legal chaos. Therefore, DPR and the government must revoke the ratification and reopen comprehensive discussions on the RKUHAP with the public to build a procedural legal system that is fair, transparent, and accountable and upholds human rights."
Background
The DPR passed the Draft Law on Amendments to Law Number 8/1981 on the Criminal Procedure Code during a plenary session in Senayan today (November 18). The ratification was passed by acclamation by all factions in a plenary session chaired by House Speaker Puan Maharani after hearing a report from Commission III Chairperson Habiburokhman.
In his presentation, the Commission III chairperson stated that the new KUHAP was necessary to bring it into line with the upcoming enactment of Law Number 1/2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP), which will come into effect on January 2, 2026.
With regard to this, the House speaker told the media that the new KUHAP would come into effect on January 2, 2026.
Previously, Amnesty noted that the document properties of the latest draft of the KUHAP uploaded on the DPR's website show that the document was created on November 17, 2025, at 6.15 pm, less than 24 hours before its ratification.
Throughout the drafting process the KUHP, Amnesty International Indonesia, along with the Civil Society Coalition for Criminal Procedure Code Reform, has continuously urged the government and the DPR to revise it comprehensively and fairly. However the RKUHAP drafting process did not involve meaningful public participation.
At the RUU KUHAP working committee (Panja) meeting, which only lasted two days between November 12-13, the government and Commission III discussed articles that were claimed to have originated from input by civil society. Therefore the Coalition has filed a legal summons against several members of Commission III with the House Ethics Board for alleged violations of the code of ethics.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Ancaman nyata terhadap HAM, segera batalkan RKUHAP yang disahkan DPR".]
