Constitutional Court Ruling on State Losses: Is BPK Truly the Sole Authority?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Constitutional Court (MK) has affirmed that the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) is the state institution authorised to assess and determine state financial losses. This affirmation is contained in Constitutional Court Decision No. 28/PUU-XXIV/2026. However, the decision has recently been narrowly interpreted by some media reports as reinforcing that BPK is the only institution authorised to calculate state losses. This view is considered not entirely accurate. Criminal law expert from Trisakti University, Albert Aries, emphasised that the MK has never explicitly stated that the authority to calculate state losses belongs solely to BPK. According to him, the MK in its decision merely affirmed BPK’s constitutional authority as regulated in the 1945 Constitution and the Law on BPK, namely as a state institution with the authority to audit state finances. This affirmation, Albert continued, relates to the explanation of Article 603 in the new Criminal Code (KUHP), which regulates the parties authorised to audit state financial losses. “Referring to the Explanation of Article 603 of the National Criminal Code, the state institution authorised to audit state finances as meant is BPK as mandated in Article 23E paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution and Article 10 paragraph (1) of the BPK Law,” he said. The confusion primarily concerns the transition of norms from Articles 2 and 3 of the Corruption Eradication Law (Tipikor), which are now adopted into Articles 603 and 604 of the new KUHP. He regrets that the MK did not simultaneously provide clear boundaries on who is authorised to calculate state losses. “The MK should have provided legal certainty by affirming a prohibition for other ‘institutions’ or ‘parties’ to calculate state financial losses, as still found in the Explanation of Article 32 of the Tipikor Law,” said Albert. According to him, to date, there are still practices where other institutions or parties calculate state losses without a legal basis at the level of law.