Securing Rational Exercise of Discretionary Powers of Criminal Justice Agencies in Indonesia (From Resource Material Series, Number 22, P 142-147, 1982 - See NCJ-94945)

• NCJ Number: 94956
• Author(s): R M Surahman
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United Nations

Annotation

The discretionary power exercised by criminal justice agencies in Indonesia is examined, and problems faced by those agencies are discussed.

Abstract

One of the basic problems with regard to law enforcement and perception of justice in Indonesia is the unsatisfactory interrelationship between the legal provisions, the behavior of the law enforcement agencies, the facilities for law enforcement, and public expectations. However, legislation which presently regulates law enforcement procedures in Indonesia is incomplete, unclear, unsynchronized, inappropriate, and insufficient; law enforcement agencies do not sufficiently understand their function, duty, or responsibility; and the implementation of law enforcement has been hampered by the shortage of officers, by inadequate means and resources, and by lack of funds. On January 1, 1982, the new Code of Criminal Procedure was promulgated to rectify problems in the criminal justice system. The new code alters the functions of the police, the public prosecutor, and the judge. In addition, the code introduced pretrial procedure, which regulates the way to demand the court to decide whether or not the arrest or the pretrial detention is legal. Theoretically, the powers of both the investigator and the public prosecutor are mandatory; in practice, however, they are discretionary. The new code is quite popular already, but few people are aware that it is not the panacea for the negative impacts of discretionary powers in the criminal justice administration in Indonesia. Fifteen references are provided.