Victim and Witness Protection Bill promotes victim recovery through restitution and permanent victim fund

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Secretary General of the Association of Criminal Law and Criminology Lecturers (ASPERHUPIKI) Ahmad Sofian assesses that the Victim and Witness Protection Bill (RUU PSDK) promotes a shift in the criminal justice system towards a victim recovery approach. Sofian told ANTARA in Jakarta on Wednesday that this change signifies a transition from retributive justice to a restorative and rehabilitative approach that is more victim-oriented. “The statement that Indonesia is moving from retributive justice to restorative and rehabilitative justice finds concrete relevance in the RUU PSDK, particularly through two key instruments, the Permanent Victim Fund and the strengthening of the restitution mechanism,” he said. He explained that these two instruments are efforts to close gaps in the criminal justice system, when a case is declared resolved but the victim has not yet obtained real justice. According to him, restorative justice practices so far often face fundamental problems in the form of imbalances in victim recovery. “In many cases, the orientation of law enforcement officials is more focused on achieving peaceful agreements, while the losses suffered by victims do not receive proportional attention,” he said. This condition, he continued, causes the resulting justice to tend to be superficial because victims are not truly restored. Therefore, the RUU PSDK presents a model for fulfilling victims’ rights that combines the perpetrator’s responsibility and the state’s role. “The synergy between the Permanent Victim Fund and the restitution mechanism creates a hybrid model in fulfilling victims’ rights,” he said. In this scheme, the perpetrator remains the primary party responsible through restitution. However, if the perpetrator is unable or unknown, the state through the permanent fund steps in to fill that gap. “This scheme ensures that there is no longer any excuse for neglecting victims’ rights, regardless of how the case is resolved,” he said. Nevertheless, Sofian emphasised that the effectiveness of these instruments greatly depends on field implementation. He highlighted several challenges, from accountable permanent fund governance, effective restitution execution mechanisms, to changes in the mindset of law enforcement officials. “Without such support, there is a risk that these two instruments will only become progressive norms that are not fully realised in practice,” he said. He affirmed that regulatory strengthening must be accompanied by improvements in governance and consistent implementation so that the goal of victim recovery is truly achieved in Indonesia’s criminal justice system.