The new Criminal Procedure Code and the Potential for New Corruption

Asis

Contributor

15 Apr 2026 · 10:04 15 April 2026 10:04 WIB 5 minutes reading time: 5 minutes 7 read

Does the new Criminal Procedure Code have the potential for corruption? A legal opinion on the loopholes of investigation monopoly & coercive measures without permits that threaten justice.

Revisi KUHAP berpotensi membuka celah praktik korupsi baru? Simak opini selengkapnya. (Source: AI Gemini, Redaksi Literasi Hukum Indonesia)

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Table of Contents

Investigation Monopoly and the Danger of Power Concentration
Coercive Measures Loopholes and Dark Spaces Without Court Permission
Crisis of Supervision and Political Intervention

Section 3/3: Crisis of Supervision and Political Intervention

Crisis of Supervision and Political Intervention

Furthermore, this investigation monopoly opens the door for more systematic political intervention. In our state structure, the police force is under the executive branch. When the law gives such dominant sole authority to the police to coordinate all types of investigations (including special criminal acts that may involve bureaucratic officials), there is a risk that the legal process will be used as a political bargaining chip.

Corruption does not always take the form of cash; it can also be in the form of political protection for certain actors. With the obligation of Civil Servant Investigators to obey the orders of the main investigator, corruption cases in the forestry, mining, or taxation sectors handled by Civil Servant Investigators could be extinguished if they come into contact with the interests of greater power. This is where the irony of the new Criminal Procedure Code lies: it wants to look modern, but structurally it actually facilitates the concentration of power that is the root of systemic corruption.

In the end, the new Criminal Procedure Code is indeed a legislative achievement, but it is not a holy book that is free from flaws. If the articles regarding the coordination of investigations and coercive measures are not immediately accompanied by implementing regulations that guarantee transparency, then we are only moving old corrupt practices into a new legal container.

The government and law enforcement officials must realize that excessive discretion without supervision is the main enemy of justice. To mitigate this potential for corruption, it is necessary to strengthen the role of the public prosecutor as the controller of the case (dominus litis) from the early stages, as well as increase the role of the supervisory judge or independent supervisory body that can test the validity of an arrest in real-time. Without this, the new Criminal Procedure Code will only become an instrument of legality for arbitrariness, not a guarantee for the protection of citizens' rights. Justice must not be sacrificed for the sake of monopolistic law enforcement bureaucratic efficiency.