Dogmatic and Mens Rea Analysis of State Economic Loss in Indonesian Corruption Law

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-519-5_17How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Criminal Law; Legal Certainty; Material Offenses; National Economic Losses; Corruption Crimes

Abstract

Corruption law enforcement in Indonesia faces conceptual challenges, particularly in interpreting “harming the state economy” under Laws No. 31/1999 and No. 20/2001. Judicial practice shows inconsistent classification between material and formal offenses, undermining legal certainty. Existing studies highlight the issue but lack a coherent doctrinal framework and analysis of mens rea. This study addresses the gap using normative doctrinal methods. It analyzes laws, regulations, court decisions, and scientific works to reconstruct this element within the theory of material offenses. This study argues that proven real losses are a necessary requirement for establishing guilt. This is in line with the principles of actus non facit reum nisi mens rea and legality (nullum crimen sine lege). The findings show: (1) this element must be interpreted systematically and teleologically to prevent speculative claims of losses; (2) operational guidelines for auditors and prosecutors remain vague, leading to inconsistent law enforcement; and (3) the lack of a clear link between actus reus and mens rea weakens prosecution strategies and judicial reasoning. The main contribution is a doctrinal-theoretical framework. This framework connects the objective element (actus reus) of state economic losses with the subjective element (mens rea) of intent or negligence. The framework provides concrete parameters for legislative reform and judicial interpretation, aiming to enhance justice and ensure certainty in enforcing corruption laws.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Devi Love Marbuhal Oktario Hutapea
AU  - Hartiwiningsih Hartiwiningsih
AU  - Itok Dwi Kurniawan
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/29
TI  - Dogmatic and Mens Rea Analysis of State Economic Loss in Indonesian Corruption Law
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Law, Economics & good Governance (ICLAW 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 213
EP  - 228
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-519-5_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-519-5_17
ID  - Hutapea2025
ER  -