Law Enforcement of Hacking Crime Jurisdiction

Hacking crimes are regulated in Article 30 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of the ITE Law, which essentially explains that “every person who tries to enter or access another person's electronic system in any way intentionally and without legal rights”. Article 46 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of the ITE Law regulate criminal sanctions for violations contained in Article 30.

Then, the imposition of criminal penalties against hacking perpetrators is also regulated in accordance with the subject and object of the crime, namely Article 52 paragraph (2) of the ITE Law, in which hacking perpetrators are subject to aggravated criminal penalties if the object is an electronic system owned by the government or used for public services. Article 52 paragraph (3) of the ITE Law states that aggravated penalties are imposed if the hacking perpetrator attacks a government-owned site that is directly related to national security and stability. Law enforcement against hacking perpetrators is in accordance with the ITE Law by prioritizing collaboration from law enforcement officials including the police, prosecutors and courts.

Principles in Determining Criminal Jurisdiction

There are three types of jurisdiction including: “jurisdiction to establish criminal law provisions, jurisdiction to apply or implement provisions established by legislative bodies, and jurisdiction to enforce legal provisions implemented by executive bodies or decided by the judiciary.” In relation to the determination of applicable law, there are several principles that are commonly used, namely:

  1. Subjective territoriality, which emphasizes that the validity or invalidity of a law is determined based on where the act was committed and the settlement of the crime was carried out in another country;
  2. Objective territoriality, which states that the applicable law is the law where the main consequences of the act occur and have a very detrimental impact on the country;
  3. The principle of nationality, which determines that the state has jurisdiction to determine based on laws regarding the nationality of the perpetrator;
  4. The principle of passive nationality, which emphasizes jurisdiction based on the nationality of the victim;
  5. The principle of protection which states that the law can be enforced based on the state's desire to protect the interests of the state from crimes committed outside its territory, usually used if the victim is the state or government;
  6. The principle of universality, which initially stipulated that every country has the right to arrest and punish pirates, but was later expanded to include crimes against humanity. This principle can be developed for internet piracy, such as computers, cracking, carding, hacking and viruses as very serious crimes.