Examples of Criminal Law – It should be understood that everyone should be able to study law. Indeed, there are still many people who easily feel lazy when studying law. Their main reason is that they are lazy because there are too many things to understand. Not to mention the terms which are very difficult for most people. However, if you think back, knowledge of law should be a very important basic knowledge for everyone to learn. Given the law is part of the life of the nation and state. What’s more, the Indonesian state has an identity as a state of law.
Studying law can be a means to increase your awareness of applicable laws. Even more so for those of you who are currently studying at the Department of Law or the Department of Politics. Well, for those of you who have started to learn basic things about law, of course you will be familiar with various kinds of legal terms and also types of law. One of the types of law that we often hear is criminal law.
This type of law is indeed one type of law that often appears in matters relating to law. Because, this type of law regulates almost all human activities in acting and acting. Legal cases that are in the news media also often mention criminal law issues. Starting from cases of corruption, theft, robbery, fraud, and so forth. In this article, we will discuss what criminal law is and what are examples of criminal law. Let’s see the full explanation below.
What Is Criminal Law?
As previously explained that criminal law is one type of law that exists in Indonesia. There are various types of law, depending on the basis of division. However, in general, the types of law in Indonesia are divided into two, namely public law and private law.
Public law refers more to the law that regulates the relationship between citizens and the state itself. Where this one law is comprehensive and applies to every citizen. While private law is the opposite of public law. This one law will generally regulate the relationship between one human being and another human being and usually concerns individual matters.
Most of the experts stated that criminal law is a type of law that is included in public law, considering that this law has the characteristic of regulating the relationship between citizens and the state itself. Even so, in this case there are still rules in criminal law that are private or individual in nature. What’s safe is that the state cannot automatically enforce these rules without requests coming from the aggrieved party.
There are several experts who have views on the meaning of criminal law. But before that you need to know that the understanding of the law itself in general has not yet found a point of understanding that is evenly distributed. Law cannot be interpreted through one view only, given the multidimensional nature of law. Even so, there are several limitations that can explain the law, including in criminal law.
According to Derkje Hazewinkel-Suringa, a writer from the Netherlands, that there are several limitations that can define criminal law, including:
a. There are orders and prohibitions in which violations of these orders and prohibitions have been determined with the threat of sanctions set by the competent state institution.
b. There are rules that determine how or with what tools the state can react to those who violate these rules.
c. There are rules that will determine the scope of enactment of these regulations at a certain time in certain areas of the country.
Definition of Criminal Law by Experts
The following are some definitions of criminal law from experts, including:
1. Definition of Criminal Law According to WLG Lemaire
According to him, criminal law is a law that consists of norms that contain orders and prohibitions, formed by legislators and has been associated with a sanction in the form of a special punishment of suffering.
2. Definition of Criminal Law According to Mezger
Mezger revealed that criminal law is rules related to law that are binding on certain actions and meet certain requirements as well as having a consequence in the form of a crime.
3. Definition of Criminal Law According to Moeljatno
Moeljatno explained more clearly that criminal law can be seen as part of the overall law that applies in a country and contains the basic rules and regulations regarding what cannot be done, prohibitions and also criminal threats for those who do it.
The rules contained therein also contain regarding when and in what cases sanctions can apply to those who violate them and in what way the imposition of criminal fines can be carried out. Seeing from the definitions according to the experts above, we can take an outline of the meaning of criminal law.
Criminal law is the law that regulates the orders and also prohibitions of society in their activities as citizens which are made by authorized state institutions and have strong sanctions for anyone who violates them.
Maybe some of you are wondering and curious about why a country should have laws that regulate the activities and behavior of its people in the nation and state? Is it not possible for a country to run without these laws?
So, to answer the question above, you must first know the functions and duties of the enactment of criminal law in a country. Check out the full explanation below:
Criminal Law Functions and Duties
In simple terms, the functions and duties of criminal law are similar to those of law in general, namely to regulate people’s behavior in order to realize justice, order, comfort, protection, and also people’s welfare. Just imagine if society was freed from the rules that apply now. Of course they will do whatever they want without regard to the interests of others, right?
While the function of criminal law itself is divided into two, namely general functions and special functions. The general function of criminal law is to regulate social life and carry out the rules that exist in society. As for the legal function specifically, namely to protect legal interests in actions that will disturb them, with sanctions in the form of criminal sanctions which are binding and coercive in nature. The legal interests that matter are individuals, groups, communities, countries, and so on.
If we look at this, we can conclude that the main task of criminal law is to protect society from various kinds of crimes that arise due to violations of applicable laws or regulations. Criminal law itself does not aim to improve the perpetrators of crimes, but to prevent society from committing crimes themselves.
Meanwhile, Wilkins has his own views regarding the purpose of criminal law. According to him, the main purpose of the existence of criminal law is to minimize the possibility of criminals to repeat their actions.
From some of the views of these experts, we can draw a conclusion that criminal law has two main functions, namely prevention or preventive and controlling or repressive. Both of these functions are carried out through rules that regulate and compel its members. This is done so that people obey and obey the existing rules. So that it is expected to create an ideal, peaceful, just, and prosperous society.
Types of Criminal Law
Criminal law itself turns out to have derivatives or types of law in it. Types of criminal law are divided into two, namely general criminal and special criminal.
General criminal law usually refers to criminal law that applies to each society as a whole regardless of status, class, and so on. The source of this type of criminal law is sourced from the Criminal Code (KUHP), both the Criminal Code regarding general provisions, the Criminal Code regarding violations, and the Criminal Code for crimes.
Meanwhile, special criminal law tends to refer to the rules contained in criminal law which deviate from general criminal law and apply specifically to certain people. Deviating here means that the provision will only apply to certain legal subjects and only regulates certain actions.
As for criminal examples from special criminal law, there are three classifications or legal groupings, including:
1. Laws that are not codified or not written down, for example, such as the Narcotics Law, the Corruption Eradication Law, the Highway Traffic Law, and others.
2. Regulations regarding administrative law that contain criminal sanctions, for example, such as the Labor Law, the Conservation of Biological Resources Law, the Law on the Scope of Life, and so on.
3. Laws that contain specific criminal laws and regulate criminal acts for certain classes and actions. For example, such as the Tax Criminal Code, the Military Criminal Code, the Economic Crime Criminal Code, and so on.
Nature of Criminal Law
As explained above, criminal law is part of public law. Therefore, the nature of criminal law is that it is public in nature and regulates the relationship between citizens and the state itself. This nature is very different from civil law which is only private and only regulates personal or individual interests. In determining the rules in the law, criminal law also has its own characteristics.
Criminal law does not have its own rules, but only takes rules from other laws such as constitutional law, civil law, and so on. Where the criminal law which acts as a means of social control is also more likely to have subsidiary or substitute properties. Which criminal law should apply or be used if efforts made through other laws are deemed inadequate.
Sources of Criminal Law in Indonesia
Then, where did the established rules come from? So, there are several sources of criminal law that apply especially in Indonesia, including through:
1. Criminal Code
The Criminal Code is one of the main sources of Indonesian criminal law. As previously mentioned, the Criminal Code which can be the source of criminal law is the Criminal Code regarding general provisions, the Criminal Code regarding crimes, and also the Criminal Code regarding violations.
2. Laws outside the Criminal Code
This law contains rules for specific criminal acts such as the eradication of criminal acts of corruption, narcotics, domestic violence, and others.
3. Customary Law
In certain areas, for actions that are not listed in written regulations such as laws and the Criminal Code, the existing criminal law in an area is still valid.
Sanctions in Criminal Law
Do you still remember the previous explanation that criminal law contains strict sanctions for anyone who violates the rules? Then, what strict sanctions are stipulated in criminal law?
If you look at what is written in article 10 of the Criminal Code, there are several kinds of sanctions or penalties that can be imposed on criminals who are declared to have violated the provisions of the criminal law. The sanctions that will be imposed on criminal offenders are divided into two, namely main and additional.
The main laws include prison sentences, death sentences, confinement, fines, and also imprisonment. Meanwhile, additional punishments include confiscation of goods, revocation of certain rights, and announcement of judge’s decisions.
If we look at the various kinds of sanctions mentioned above, we can understand that criminal law sanctions are included in sanctions that are binding and compel every citizen. Because, this can be about property, body honor, to life. While the imposition of sanctions under the law is certainly carried out for reasons based on common interests, namely for the sake of realizing an orderly, just, safe and also prosperous country.
Examples of Criminal Law that Have Been Crazy in Indonesia
The following are examples of criminal law cases that have occurred in Indonesia, including:
1. The Case of the Murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin with Cyanide Coffee
Mirna is a woman who died after drinking coffee at the Olivier Cafe, which is located at Grand Indonesia Mall, Central Jakarta, on January 6 2016. Jessica Kumala Wongso is one of Mirna’s friends who arrived earlier and ordered coffee for Mirna . Therefore, Jessica became a witness of Mirna’s death. After the police conducted a crime scene analysis and held a laboratory test case on some of the evidence they had collected. A number of surprising facts were discovered. One of them is the presence of cyanide in Mirna’s coffee and indications indicating that the perpetrator of the incident was Jessica.
2. The Antasari Azhar case
Antasari Azhar is a former KPK chairman who was sentenced to 18 years for being found guilty of premeditated murder of the boss of PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran named Nasrudin Zulkarnaen on March 14, 2009.
The case had caused a stir. Because Antasari is the leader of an institution whose performance is highly anticipated. There is an allegation that the case hampered Antasari’s career. This happened because during his tenure as chairman of the KPK, Antasari was known to be very brave in taking action against anyone, including when he tried to uncover the scandal behind the Bank Century and IT KPU cases, whose tenders were won by a company owned by Hartati Murdaya. This case was recorded in the “Antasari Conspiracy, Medpress Team, 2012.
Those were some explanations about what criminal law is and examples of criminal law in Indonesia. For those of you who are studying law, this article will be very helpful in understanding several types of laws that we often encounter in everyday life.