Legal Literacy - This article discusses the concept of complicity in criminal acts (deelneming) in criminal law, which involves the roles of the principal perpetrator (pleger) and the accomplice (medepleger), and how both can be given the same criminal sanctions. In addition, this article explores the death penalty in Criminal Code (KUHP) Indonesia, forms of complicity in criminal acts, and examples of premeditated murder cases involving both roles, complete with an analysis of the panel of judges' considerations in imposing the sentence.

In the concept of participation in criminal acts (deelneming), some act as the main perpetrators (pleger) and some act as accomplices (medepleger). If pleger and medepleger have equal ideas and roles in a criminal act, then both have the potential to be given the same and equivalent criminal sanctions.

The Death Penalty in the Criminal Code.

As is known in various literatures, sanctions in criminal law are the most severe sanctions, because they contain suffering/misery so that their imposition must be carried out carefully and sought as a last resort for resolving a legal problem (concept ultimum remedium). Criminal sanctions strongly emphasize the element of retaliation (reward), in the form of suffering imposed on the perpetrators of criminal acts. It is hoped that the perpetrators of these criminal acts will be deterred and will not repeat their actions and protect the public from harmful threats.

The death penalty is one type of criminal sanction that applies in Indonesia. Based on the provisions of Article 10 of the Criminal Code (KUHP), the types of criminal sanctions that apply in Indonesia are principal crimes consisting of the death penalty, imprisonment, confinement, fines, and confinement. Meanwhile, additional crimes consist of revocation of certain rights, confiscation of certain goods, and announcement of the judge's decision. The death penalty itself is essentially a punishment carried out by the state in the form of taking the life of the perpetrator of a criminal act who has been found guilty based on a court decision that has permanent legal force.

Several countries in the world, including Indonesia, still apply the death penalty, which is the most severe crime. The death penalty in fact still causes pros and cons in society. Those who support the death penalty have the basis of deterrence arguments, while those who oppose the death penalty consider the punishment to be a violation of Human Rights (HAM). Therefore, until now, the death penalty has also sometimes become a political issue that crosses national borders.