"I want to say why it is urgent for us to have a new Criminal Code. There are three (reasons)," he said at a “Kumham (Law and Human Rights) Goes to Campus” event at Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Wednesday.
The first reason is that the current criminal code used by the country's law enforcement agencies was drafted in 1800, thus, it is about 222 years old, so the adopted criminal law system is a classical one.
Classical criminal law is more focused on individual interests, so a new criminal code is needed, and the ratification of the Draft Criminal Code can address this.
"Secondly, I must also say, the existing criminal code is out of date, no longer up to date. Therefore, we must formulate a new one that is oriented toward modern criminal law," he argued.
He further said that modern criminal law is geared toward the principles of corrective justice, restorative justice, and rehabilitative justice.
The third reason is that the criminal code currently used by law enforcers, whether police, prosecutors, or judges, does not guarantee legal certainty.
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"There is (one translation from) Prof. Moeljatno from Gadjah Mada University, there is also a translation by Prof. Andi Hamzah, he is from Hasanuddin University. There is also one written by R. Soesilo. Prof. Andi Hamzah wrote it with his brother, Prof. Zainal Farid. Unfortunately, between one criminal code and another, there are different translations," Hiariej pointed out.
He gave the example of the different translations of Article 362 of the Criminal Code by legal experts. The article states that a person who takes goods or something wholly or partly belonging to another person, with the intention of unlawfully possessing it, will be sanctioned for theft with a maximum imprisonment of five years or a maximum fine of Rp60.
"In that article, Prof. Moeljanto translates it as an ‘act against the law,’ but R. Soesilo translates it as ‘against the right.’ The two things are similar, but not the same. Going against rights is going against the law for sure, but going against the law does not necessarily mean going against rights," Hiariej explained.
Thus, the Draft Criminal Code must be ratified without delay in order to address these issues, he stressed.
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Translator: Tri Meilani A, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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