Can Ad Hoc Judges Be Involved in Cases at Military Courts?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The discourse on involving ad hoc judges in cases at military courts has emerged alongside scrutiny over the handling of the acid attack case against KontraS activist Andrie Yunus.

This idea was first voiced by Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Indonesia’s number two official proposed involving ad hoc judges from professional circles in the trial of that case.

However, a fundamental question arises: is there a legal basis that opens the possibility for ad hoc judges to be involved in adjudicating cases in military courts?

Under the Supreme Court (MA), the judicial system is divided into four environments: General Courts, Religious Courts, Military Courts, and State Administrative Courts (TUN).

“All courts in Indonesia, consisting of these four judicial environments including special courts incorporated into one of the judicial environments, are regulated by law,” said Suharto to Kompas.com on Monday (13/4/2026).

Within this framework, Suharto opens the possibility that the discourse on introducing ad hoc judges in military courts can be implemented, provided there is a clear legal basis.

“So, a discourse or proposal is very possible if its conceptual framework is later regulated in law. Thus, the MA only implements the law prepared by the lawmaker,” he said.

However, he reminds of an important limit in criminal law, namely the principle of non-retroactivity or the prohibition on retroactive application.

“But, an event must be tried under the law/regulations that were already in force when the event occurred or the act was committed. So, it would be inappropriate if new regulations are made to try criminal events that have already occurred, because that would be retroactive,” he stated.

This statement reinforces that although regulatory changes are possible in the future, their use for cases that have already occurred could potentially conflict with the basic principles of criminal law.