Asset Forfeiture Bill Urged to Regulate Management of Seized State Assets

JAKARTA - A member of the House of Representatives Commission III, Benny K. Harman, is pushing for regulations on the management of seized assets in the draft law (RUU) on Asset Forfeiture Related to Criminal Acts.

He considers such rules important so that the management of forfeited assets provides benefits to the state and does not cause legal problems.

“What has happened so far? This is unclear. Assets have been seized, but their use is unclear. Therefore, this asset forfeiture law is intended to provide governance for the management of seized assets for the state’s interests,” Benny said during a general hearing with experts to discuss the Asset Forfeiture Bill, quoted from the TVR Parlemen broadcast, Tuesday (31/3/2026).

He firmly stated that the bill is expected to provide legal certainty regarding the handling of assets from criminal acts.

“There is an impression that this asset forfeiture law is needed so that law enforcement officials can easily seize assets resulting from criminal acts or assets used to commit criminal acts. If that’s the understanding, in my opinion, we are misleading,” Benny said.

Benny hopes that the Asset Forfeiture Bill can introduce a more transparent and accountable system for managing assets related to criminal acts.

“This, in my view, is the main goal of the asset forfeiture law, to provide clarity in the governance of assets that have been declared forfeited by a judge or court,” said the Democrat Party politician.

The Head of the DPR Expert Body, Bayu Dwi Anggono, stated that the draft of the Asset Forfeiture Bill consists of eight chapters and 62 articles.

Here is the detail of the eight chapters in the draft Asset Forfeiture Bill:

“In the context of why this bill is important, it ensures that the proceeds of crime cannot be enjoyed by the perpetrators. Primarily for crimes with economic motives, seeking profit and so on, so that they can be recovered,” Bayu said during the hearing on Thursday.

The draft Asset Forfeiture Bill also consists of 16 regulatory pillars, namely general provisions, principles, methods of asset forfeiture, types of criminal acts, types of criminal assets that can be forfeited, conditions and criteria for assets that can be forfeited, submission of asset forfeiture requests, and procedural law for asset forfeiture.