Government's Considerations for Re-regulating Police Retirement Age

Deputy Minister of Law Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, also known as Eddy Hiariej, explained the reason for proposing provisions on the retirement age limit for police personnel in the draft Bill on the Third Amendment to Law Number 2 of 2002 concerning the Police. In the newly passed Police Law, Article 30 paragraph (5) regulates the retirement age limit for police officers with a four-star rank at a maximum of 60 years, which can be extended by one year as needed. “Why was 60 years chosen? We are adjusting it by comparing it with the retirement age limit for the state civil apparatus (ASN),” Hiariej said at the DPR, MPR, and DPD Complex on Tuesday, 9 June 2026. He stated that this retirement age adjustment to 60 years is also applied in the Attorney General’s Law, where the previous maximum retirement age of 62 years was lowered to 60 years. Indeed, he continued, there is a provision for extending the ASN retirement age up to 65 years. However, this provision only applies if the ASN holds a functional position. “So, that is the general rule applicable,” Eddy said. In addition to regulating the retirement age for officer ranks, the ratified Police Bill also sets the retirement age limit for enlisted and non-commissioned officer ranks at a maximum of 59 years. The Police Bill was ratified into law by the DPR during the 21st plenary session of the Fifth Session Period for the 2025-2026 Session Year. The ratification was led by Deputy Speaker of the DPR Sufmi Dasco Ahmad. On the other hand, the Civil Society Coalition for Police Sector Reform rejected the ratification of the Police Bill. Coalition representative Muhammad Isnur stated one of the coalition’s reasons for rejection. He said the discussion of this revision should not have been conducted in a hasty and careless manner. “The DPR and the government should learn from the process of passing laws recklessly that always ends up being unconstitutional,” said Isnur. He cited the deliberation processes of the KPK Law, the Job Creation Law, the TNI Law, and the Criminal Procedure Code, which resulted in a flood of judicial review requests at the Constitutional Court. Therefore, in the deliberation of the Police Bill, the DPR and the government should have applied the precautionary principle. “So that regulations are born that answer the problems and needs of the people, not add to the problems,” said Isnur.