Constitutional Court Emphasises BPK's Authority to Determine State Financial Losses
JAKARTA - The Constitutional Court (MK) has emphasised that the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) is the state institution authorised to assess and determine the amount of state financial losses.
This emphasis forms part of the MK’s legal considerations in its Decision Number 28/PUU-XXIV/2026, issued on Monday (9/2/2026). The decision rejected the petitioners’ request in its entirety.
In its legal considerations, the MK referred to the Explanation of Article 603 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP) and Article 23E paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.
“Referring to the Explanation of Article 603 of Law 1/2023, the state institution authorised to audit state finances is the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) as mandated by Article 23E paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, which states, ‘To examine the management and accountability of state finances, an independent and autonomous Supreme Audit Agency shall be established’,” reads the legal consideration in the MK Decision Number 28/PUU-XXIV/2026, quoted on Tuesday (7/4/2026).
“The BPK also has the authority to assess and/or determine the amount of state losses resulting from unlawful acts,” states the MK’s legal consideration.
The MK continued that the BPK’s authority to declare and determine the amount of state losses is linked to the process of law enforcement for actions or conduct causing state losses.
Based on these legal considerations, the petitioners’ arguments regarding the absence of clear normative parameters on who is authorised to determine losses, the assessment standards, and the extent to which audit results bind judges in proving the phrase “causing harm to state finances” in the norms of Articles 603 and 604 of Law 1/2023—thus placing the criminal element in an unmeasurable and unpredictable interpretive space—are deemed legally unfounded.
In their petition, the petitioners identified legal uncertainty due to the limitation on determining state financial losses in the Explanation of Article 603 of the KUHP.
According to the petitioners, the Explanation of Article 603 of the KUHP does not explicitly name the institution responsible for calculating state losses.
As a result, the Explanation of Article 603 of the KUHP is seen as creating a new norm that is limitative and determines the existence of the criminal element.
In their petition, the petitioners requested that the MK declare the phrase “Causing Harm to State Finances” in Articles 603 and 604 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Year 2023 Number 1, Supplement to the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6842) to be contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and to have no binding legal force, insofar as it is not interpreted that proof of state financial losses is not exclusive and closed to the results of examinations by a specific audit institution, but must be proven based on valid legal evidence and independently assessed by the judge in the criminal trial process.
“Rejecting the petitioners’ request in its entirety,” stated MK Chief Justice Suhartoyo while reading the Decision of the MK Number 28/PUU-XXIV/2026.