Insulting President or VP Can Only Be Processed if Reported by Them, MK Rules

The Constitutional Court (MK) has affirmed that the article on insulting the President and Vice President cannot be processed without a direct complaint.

The MK stated that the article is no longer a general offence as regulated in the old Criminal Code (KUHP), but rather an absolute complaint offence.

This affirmation is contained in ruling number 275/PUU-XXIII/2025, which was filed by 12 university students. The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of Articles 218, 219 and 220 of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the new Criminal Code.

“The Court grants the petitioners’ request in part,” said Chief Justice Suhartoyo during the hearing held on Wednesday (12/8).

The MK declared Article 220 paragraph (1) of the new Criminal Code unconstitutional insofar as it is not interpreted to mean: “Paragraph (1) The criminal acts referred to in Article 218 and Article 219 may only be prosecuted based on a complaint by the President and/or Vice President.”

The MK explained that the criminal act of insulting the head of state in the old Criminal Code was a general offence that could be applied without the need for a complaint from the President or Vice President directly.

“The requirement of a complaint shows that the assessment of whether or not there has been an attack on the honour or dignity of the President and/or Vice President cannot be left to the subjective judgement of parties other than the President and/or Vice President who are not the targets of the act in question,” explained Constitutional Justice Guntur Hamzah while reading the Court’s considerations.

The MK also cited the ruling in case number 013-022/PUU-IV/2006, which had stipulated that prosecution of the criminal act of insulting the head of state must be based on a complaint. However, that ruling did not specify who had the right to file such a complaint.

On that basis, in this ruling, the MK affirmed that the party entitled to make a direct complaint is the President or Vice President or their legal counsel with a special power of attorney.

“Therefore, with the Court’s affirmation, a complaint by the President and/or Vice President may be made directly or by granting a special power of attorney to legal counsel,” said Guntur.

Accordingly, the MK stated that other parties such as family members, sympathisers, supporters, volunteers or other third parties cannot act on behalf of the President and/or Vice President to report an alleged criminal act of insult.

“Based on the foregoing, the affirmation regarding the legal subject entitled to file a complaint is necessary so that there is no room for other parties, whether family members, sympathisers, supporters, volunteers or other third parties acting on behalf of the President and/or Vice President, to initiate criminal proceedings based on their own assessment of whether or not an insult has occurred against the President and/or Vice President,” said Guntur.

The MK emphasised that Article 220 paragraph (1) of the new Criminal Code is an absolute complaint offence which affirms that law enforcement can only be carried out if the President and/or Vice President file a complaint, which may be done in writing.

Thus, the will of the party directly concerned is an absolute requirement for the commencement of law enforcement proceedings, so that an act alleged to attack the honour or dignity of the President or Vice President cannot simply be reported by another legal subject except by the President and/or Vice President.