Magistrates Stop Prosecution 907 Matters With Restorative Justice

Deputy Attorney General Sunarta. ANTARA/Anita Permata Dewi

JAKARTA - Deputy Attorney General Sunarta said the Attorney General's Office (AGO) had approved the termination of the prosecution of 907 cases of the 999 cases that were submitted as a form of implementing the restorative justice mechanism.

"This number is not proportional to the number of criminal cases that exist, because the process of stopping prosecutions based on restorative justice is carried out very selectively by the Prosecutor's Office," Sunarta said in a written statement quoted by Antara, Monday, April 4.

In his presentation, Sunarta revealed that the settlement of cases through restorative justice received a very positive response from the community, as evidenced by the many requests that the settlement of cases be carried out through the process of stopping prosecution based on restorative justice.

This statement was conveyed by the Deputy Attorney General in a working meeting with Committee I DPD. Sunarta explained about the development of restorative justice law enforcement by the Attorney General's Office.

In implementing the termination of prosecution based on restorative justice, there are several strategic programs that have been and will continue to be implemented in order to optimize the implementation of Prosecutor's Regulation Number 15 of 2020 concerning Termination of Prosecution Based on Restorative Justice.

The Deputy Attorney General said that the launch of "Rumah Restorative Justice" had been carried out by Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin on Wednesday (16/3).

The establishment of a Restorative Justice House can be a means of resolving cases outside the court (afdoening buiten process) as an alternative solution to solving law enforcement problems in certain cases that have not been able to restore peace and harmony in society as before the occurrence of a crime.

"The Restorative Justice House is essentially also expected to be a trigger to revive the role of community leaders, religious leaders, and traditional leaders to work together with the community to maintain peace and harmony and increase public awareness of their fellow human beings who need justice, benefit, but still does not rule out legal certainty," said Sunarta.

The conclusions at the working meeting were that Committee I of the DPD supported the Prosecutor's Office in an effort to accelerate the application of restorative justice in the Indonesian Criminal Justice System, and appreciated the steps taken by the Indonesian Attorney's Office in establishing a Restorative Justice House as an effort to socialize and approach the community by involving the DPD RI in outreach activities.

Committee I of the DPD also encouraged the formation of the Draft Law on Restorative Justice as an effort to unify the law in the enforcement mechanism of Restorative Justice.