The Minister of Law and Human Rights Requests Law Enforcement to Prioritize Administrative Sanctions Rather than Criminal

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Law (Wamenkum) Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej said that law enforcement against laws with administrative sanctions must be prioritized over the application of criminal sanctions.

The Minister of Home Affairs said this was a form of the application of the principle of "ultimum remedium", the principle of imprisonment as the ultimate effort in law enforcement.

"If a law contains both criminal and administrative sanctions, then the administrative sanction must be prioritized," he said in a legal seminar held by the Central Java Police in Semarang, Friday, quoted by Antara.

According to him, the new Criminal Code brings a paradigm shift in the system of imprisonment by prioritizing corrective justice and restorative justice.

This paradigm shift also has an impact on the Criminal Procedure Code which shifts the approach from the "crime control model" to the "due process model", which emphasizes the protection of human rights in the criminal justice process.

Law enforcement agencies, he continued, have an important role in ensuring that the legal process runs, including ensuring the fulfillment of the rights of suspects, defendants, victims, disabled people, children, and vulnerable groups.

The Minister of Law and Human Rights also explained the importance of reading the new Criminal Code together with Law Number 1 of 2026 concerning Criminal Adjustment because there are a number of important changes.

"In the Criminal Adjustment Law there are 55 items of changes to the national Criminal Code," he said.