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The Existence of the Dominus Litis Principle Held by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Indonesia

Dini Wininta Sari, S.H.

Contributor

27 Mar 2023 · 07:56 27 March 2023 07:56 WIB 8 minutes reading time: 8 minutes 1 read

Legal Literacy - This article discusses the meaning and relevance of the Dominus Litis principle in the criminal justice system in Indonesia. This principle demonstrates the position of the Public Prosecutor's Office as the controller of the case...

The Existence of the Dominus Litis Principle Held by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Indonesia

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Table of Contents

Meaning of the Dominus Litis Principle
Relevance of the Dominus Litis Principle in the Criminal Justice System in Indonesia
Potential Conflicts in Applying the Dominus Litis Principle
Misunderstandings between Law Enforcers in Preparing Prosecution Files
Standardization of Prosecution Files
References

Section 2/3: Meaning of the Dominus Litis Principle

Meaning of the Dominus Litis Principle

According to Article 11 of the UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, prosecutors must play an active role in the criminal justice process, including prosecuting, investigating and supervising the validity of the investigation, supervising the implementation of court decisions, and carrying out other functions based on the law independently. The meaning of “prosecuting” is the position of the Prosecutor's Office as the single prosecution system in the criminal justice system.

The existence of the authority of the Prosecutor's Office in Indonesia to prosecute is closely related to the Dominus Litis principle. Etymologically, “dominus” comes from Latin, which means “owner”, while “litis” means “case”. Thus, if translated, “dominus litis” means “controller of the case”. The consequence of this principle is that the public prosecutor is the controller of the case and the only body authorized to determine whether a case is worthy of being submitted to court according to the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP). Then, in line with the principle that the prosecutor's office is one and indivisible (een en ondelbaar), then no institution can carry out the prosecution duties for and on behalf of the state.

Relevance of the Dominus Litis Principle in the Criminal Justice System in Indonesia

In the criminal justice system, integration (integrated) in law enforcement is felt to be more effective and efficient than law enforcement that runs independently (disintegrated), furthermore, integration needs to be followed by every law enforcer to provide a sense of justice to the community.

The KUHAP has provided detailed explanations regarding the duties starting from the police as investigators, the prosecutor's office as public prosecutor and the executor of court decisions and judges as adjudicators of criminal cases. According to M. Yahya Harahap, the criminal justice system outlined in the KUHAP is an Integrated Criminal Justice System.

The position of the Prosecutor as Dominus Litis in the criminal justice system in Indonesia is able to create a synergistic relationship between law enforcement officials in order to carry out law enforcement duties that are able to guarantee the realization of legal certainty, justice and expediency. This is because the Prosecutor, as the main figure in the administration of criminal justice, is more proficient in legal matters and has the exclusive right to contact the court.

The use of the Dominus Litis principle needs to be applied correctly and on target, so that the concept of the criminal justice system can be implemented in the workings of the sub-system in criminal justice and improve the professionalism and integrity of Prosecutors in the eyes of the public in prosecuting criminal cases.