Parliament to Regulate Sanctions for Law Enforcement Officers Misusing Wiretapping Authority

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The DPR RI Expert Body will include provisions on sanctions for law enforcement officers who misuse wiretapping authority in the Wiretapping Bill (RUU Penyadapan).

The Head of the DPR RI Expert Body, Bayu Dwi Anggono, stressed that such sanctions are necessary to prevent illegal wiretapping practices and violations of the public’s privacy rights.

“Criminal sanctions are needed against any individual or law enforcement officer who commits violations in wiretapping activities to prevent the misuse of that authority,” Bayu stated during a working meeting with the DPR RI Legislation Body (Baleg), on Thursday (2/4/2026).

However, regulations on wiretapping remain scattered across various laws, such as the KPK Law, Police Law, State Intelligence Law, and ITE Law, with differing standards and mechanisms.

“How do we harmonise the regulation of sanctions for the misuse of wiretapping authority, particularly when rogue law enforcement officers abuse their wiretapping powers,” Bayu explained.

“Wiretapping as a serious intervention into privacy must be regulated to prevent the abuse of authority,” Bayu added.

Bayu emphasised that the drafting of the Wiretapping Bill is currently in the stage of preparing the academic paper and initial draft.

Previously reported, the DPR RI Baleg has added the Wiretapping Bill to the list of the 2026 Priority National Legislation Programme (Prolegnas).

The bill will be discussed as an initiative proposal from the Baleg DPR.

The DPR RI Legislation Body (Baleg) stated that the discussion of the Wiretapping Bill (RUU Penyadapan) must be one of the legislative priorities in 2026.

The reason is that the bill is needed to strengthen the law enforcement process while protecting citizens’ privacy rights from potential abuse of authority.

Therefore, Bob assessed that the urgency of drafting this policy is directly related to public interests and the consistency of law enforcement in Indonesia.

In addition, Bob reminded that wiretapping is part of criminal law, so it requires more directed regulation without overlapping with other regulations.