Expert: Police Bill must strengthen Kompolnas as external supervisor
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Criminal law lecturer at Airlangga University, Maradona, stated that the Draft Law (RUU) on the Amendment of Law Number 2 of 2002 concerning the National Police must strengthen the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) as an external supervisor.
“The Police Bill must strengthen Kompolnas, not merely as an advisory body, but as an effective external oversight institution,” Maradona said during a public hearing regarding the Police Bill with Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Tuesday.
According to him, designing an effective Kompolnas requires a fundamental transformation from a mere advisory body into a real oversight institution. In this context, he believes Kompolnas needs to be granted broader authority.
“For example, the authority to receive and monitor the follow-up of complaints, access to necessary data and information, the authority to evaluate policies and monitoring, as well as the obligation to respond to Kompolnas recommendations officially, in writing, and publicly within a specified timeframe,” he explained.
Meanwhile, constitutional law lecturer at Pancasila University, Fritz Edward Siregar, stated that a strong Kompolnas could serve as a bridge for police data, public complaints, governance evaluation, and the enforcement of ethical codes, thereby increasing public trust in the police.
However, he emphasised that the strengthening of Kompolnas must be accompanied by clear limitations.
“Kompolnas must not turn into a parallel investigator. Kompolnas must not determine suspects, order or halt investigations, direct detentions, or take over objective assessments,” he said on the same occasion.
He added that as an external supervisor, Kompolnas has the function of overseeing governance as well as handling alleged violations of police ethics. However, Kompolnas must not interfere in cases being handled by the National Police.
“Kompolnas must be strong in overseeing the system, but must not hold the steering wheel of individual cases. Kompolnas must be strong in providing policy input, but must not become a shadow investigator,” said Fritz.