Legal Literacy - October 12, 2002, became a dark mark in Indonesian history. The Bali Bombing I in the Kuta area, Bali, killed at least 202 people and injured more than 300 others. This tragedy not only tarnished Indonesia's image but also caused widespread fear of the threat of terrorism. As a progressive response, the government issued Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perpu) No. 1 of 2002, which was later ratified into Law Number 15 of 2003 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Terrorism. However, a major controversy arose: this law was applied retroactively to try the perpetrators of the Bali Bombing (Amrozi, Ali Imron, Imam Samudra, et al.) for acts that occurred before the law existed.

Violation of the Principle of Legality (Article 1 of the Criminal Code)

This retroactive application directly violated one of the most fundamental principles in criminal law: Principle of Legality (Nullum crimen sine lege). This principle is clearly stated in Article 1 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code (KUHP):
"No act can be punished except by virtue of criminal rules in legislation that existed before the act was committed."
Simply put, criminal law should not apply retroactively. The perpetrators of the Bali Bombing were tried using the 2003 Terrorism Law for acts they committed in 2002, when that specific law did not yet exist.

The Excuse of 'Extraordinary…