Constitutional Court Judge Notes That Provisions Struck Down Have Been Revived in New Criminal Code

JAKARTA - Constitutional Court Justice Saldi Isra has questioned the revival of provisions in the Criminal Code (KUHP) Number 1 of 2023, even though those provisions had previously been struck down by the Constitutional Court. This was stated by Saldi Isra during hearings on six cases challenging the constitutionality of the new KUHP, held on Monday (13/4/2026). In the hearing agenda focused on listening to explanations from the House of Representatives (DPR), Saldi openly noted that certain provisions had been revived by the lawmakers. “For example, this relates to several petitions where, in fact, parts requested by the petitioners here were already decided by the Court previously, but have been revived by the lawmakers,” he said. Arsul Sani stated that Articles 237(b) and (c) in the KUHP have the same substance as Article 69(c) of Law Number 24 of 2009. This article had been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, yet it reappears in the new KUHP under different articles. “So, in the Constitutional Court decision, Article 69(c) of Law 24/2009 was indeed declared unconstitutional. Now, I request an explanation from the President (government) as to why this then appears in Article 237(c)?” Arsul said during the same hearing. Saldi Isra also drew attention to the matter and asked the lawmakers to provide an explanation in the hearing as to why a norm that had been ruled unconstitutional by the MK is appearing again. “Now, the way forward, Mr Rudianto (DPR representative) and colleagues from the government or president, please provide us with the actual record (explanation of the re-formation of the article) in real terms,” said Saldi. The Constitutional Court requested this because it is clear that the new KUHP was formed to update the previous criminal law, which was considered a product of the colonial era.