Juridical Analysis of the Rechterlijk Pardon Concept Implementation in Ordinary Criminal Act Associated with the Non-Retroactive Principle in Indonesian Criminal Law

Abstract

At first, the regulation of the concept of rechterlijk pardon in the provisions of Indonesian criminal law was inspired by a similar arrangement in the provisions of criminal law in the Netherlands. Where the purpose of the inclusion of the concept is to avoid the rigidity that has long occurred in the practice of administering criminal law there. Such reasons are also the reasons behind the inclusion of the concept of rechterlijk pardon in the provisions of Indonesian criminal law. Although it has been more than thirty years since the concept was first discussed, until now the concept of rechterlijk pardon has only been regulated in the provisions of article 54 paragraph (2) of the Draft Criminal Code and article 70 of the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Law. However, in the practice of examining ordinary criminal cases, it turns out that there have been several district court decisions that apply the concept of rechterlijk pardon in the consideration of their decisions, including the verdict of criminal case number 1038/Pid.B/LH/ 2019/PN Pbr, criminal case verdict number 52/Pid.B/2020/PN LBB, criminal case record number 1/Pid.C/2021/PN Ttn, and criminal case verdict number 8/Pid.B/2022/PN Rtg. Even though it is known that the criminal law Indonesia adheres to a non-retroactive principle that prohibits the enactment of a statutory provision before the provision is passed. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss further about the implementation of the concept of rechterlijk pardon in each criminal case decision, which is connected with the non-retroactive principle that applies in the provisions of Indonesian criminal law.