The Formulation of Corruption Offenses in Law No. 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code

Abstract

The Criminal Code as a legacy of Dutch colonialism can no longer keep up with the dynamism of social life. Its too rigid nature has eliminated the sense of justice which is the aim of creating the law itself. This is because the articles in the Criminal Code are no longer considered appropriate to the development of increasingly complex crimes and violations. In Law No. 1 of 2023 regarding the Criminal Code, one of the efforts to reform is the formulation of offenses regarding corruption which are regulated in Chapter XXXV starting from Article 603 and Article 606. With the formulation of corruption offenses and office offenses formulated in the Law No. 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code will override the Corruption Eradication Law even though this law is special in nature because of the substance of the articles of Law No. 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code aims to make the criminal act of corruption a general crime and not undergo extraordinary handling. The Corruption Eradication Law cannot apply even though there is the principle of lex specialist derogat lex generalis, because of the retroactive principle that applies in Law No. 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code so that decisions whose legal force remains can be applied retroactively if the new legal regulations do not regulate criminal offenses, so that the punishment can be abolished.