Commission III Of The DPR And The Government Agree On The Immunity Rights Of Advocates In The RKUHAP

Chairman Of Commission III Of The Indonesian House Of Representatives Habiburokhman/ANTARA/Bagus Ahmad Rizaldi

JAKARTA - Commission III of the DPR and the government through the Ministry of Law agreed to regulate the impunity rights of advocates in the Panja Revision of the Criminal Procedure Code (RKUHAP). In this case, advocates cannot be prosecuted in carrying out their professional duties.

The agreement was taken at a working meeting of Commission III of the DPR and the government of the DPR building, Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday, July 10.

Chairman of Commission III of the DPR, Habiburokhman, said that the rules for the right to impunity of advocates were input from various attorneys during a public hearing (RDPU) during the last recess.

"Yesterday, we conducted RDPUs with various parties, many of whom were advocates and non-governmental organizations who conveyed the issue of the impunity of advocates that needed to be emphasized in the Criminal Procedure Code as well, so not only in the Advocate Law, but also in the Criminal Procedure Code," said Habiburokhman.

In the RDPU, continued Habiburokhman, all factions in parliament agreed to accommodate the impunity rights of advocates. He said the right to impunity of advocates would be regulated in Article 140 paragraph 2.

"It's like this, 'Advocates cannot be prosecuted both civilly and criminally in carrying out their professional duties with good faith for the benefit of the client's defense inside and outside the trial'," explained the Gerindra Deputy.

According to Habiburokhman, the regulation is in accordance with the advocate's law, and has been adjusted to the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) which adds phrases outside the court.

"Then the explanation, which often becomes rubber about good faith, is 'What is meant by good faith, namely the attitude and behavior of greeting advocates in carrying out their duties and legal assistance based on the code of ethics of the advocate profession'," he explained.

After explaining about this impunity right, Habiburokhman then asked the government's attitude towards the article.

Responding to Habiburokhman, Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights Eddy OS Hiariej admitted that the government had no problem with adding the impunity rights of advocates, as long as it relates to the existing Advocate Law.

"So we add that in DIM 812, Article 140 paragraph one reads 'Advocates have the status of law enforcers carrying out their duties and functions of legal services in accordance with professional ethics and guaranteed by laws and regulations. Then paragraph 2 that the chairman mentioned earlier, agreed," he said.