The Basic Concept of Human Rights in the Renewal of the Three Pillars of Criminal Law under Indonesia’s New Criminal Code

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-785-9_21How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Human Rights; New Criminal Code; Criminal Law

Abstract

The 2022 revision of the Criminal Code represents a significant milestone in Indonesia’s national criminal law system. The update covers three main pillars of criminal law, namely criminal acts, criminal responsibility, and punishment. As a country that upholds the principles of Human Rights and has ratified various international human rights instruments, it is important to examine the extent to which the updated Criminal Code is in line with the basic concept of human rights. The study aims to analyze the integration of human rights principles in the renewal of the three pillars of criminal law and to identify potential problems in the social and legal context. The study applied a socio-legal approach, which is an approach combining normative studies of legislation and legal doctrine with analysis of social reality, legal culture, and societal dynamics. The data were collected through literature studies, analysis of the new Criminal Code, and various international human rights instruments. In addition, secondary data, such as reports from human rights institutions, results of public discussions, and responses from civil society and academics to the new Criminal Code, were also used. The results showed that the updated Criminal Code contains a number of positive aspects in accommodating human rights, such as strengthening the principle of legality and introducing a restorative justice approach. However, there are a number of articles that are considered open to multiple interpretations, conservative, and have the potential to limit freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and the right to freedom of religion. Hence, the successful implementation of the new Criminal Code strongly depends on the critical awareness of law enforcement officers, the strengthening of a legal culture that respects human rights, and the active involvement of the community in overseeing a fair and proportional implementation. Finally, it is concluded that the basic concept of Human Rights is an important foundation for the reform of criminal law in Indonesia, as reflected in the new Criminal Code. The renewal shows a paradigm shift from a repressive approach to a more humanistic and corrective approach. Hence, it is suggested that the judiciary must play an active role in ensuring that the implementation of the new Criminal Code remains within the corridor of human rights protection, including through constitutional and progressive interpretation of norms that have the potential to give rise to rights violations.

Copyright

© 2026 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  - Sarip Hidayat
AU  - Gios Adhyaksa
AU  - Anthon Fathanudien
AU  - Andini Khoirunnisa
AU  - Ade Rizki Fauji
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/07
TI  - The Basic Concept of Human Rights in the Renewal of the Three Pillars of Criminal Law under Indonesia’s New Criminal Code
BT  - Proceedings of the UUM 13th International Legal Conference 2025 (UUMILC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 296
EP  - 306
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-785-9_21
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-785-9_21
ID  - Hidayat2026
ER  -