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Criminalizing private commercial bribery
After 20 years of reformation, our society continues to suffer from a deluge of jaw-dropping bribery cases that unceasingly overwhelm our mass media, as if all legitimate attempts to dissuade remain futile.
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Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Basaria Panjaitan inaugurates an antigraft campaign bus at the commission’s offices in Kuningan, South Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Seto Wardhana)
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fter 20 years of reformation, our society continues to suffer from a deluge of jaw-dropping bribery cases that unceasingly overwhelm our mass media, as if all legitimate attempts to dissuade remain futile.
While the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2017 still ranked Indonesia among the most corrupt countries in the world, the 2017 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Annual Report recorded that bribery was the major case handled throughout 2017 with the highest number of occurrences. Hence, a pressing need to focus on bribery arises.
The frequent occurrence of bribery, compounded by the high number of corruption cases involving the private sector (as recorded by the KPK), compels the condemnation of the private sector for being both rife with bribery and seemingly untouchable by the law. Consequently, predicated upon the ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2017, the provision on private commercial bribery was decided to be included in the draft Criminal Code, which was later suspended in 2018 when a consideration emerged that such a provision should be included under the Corruption Law instead.
The plan to include private commercial bribery provisions within our Corruption Law is truly a laudable action. However, it is crucial that some issues must first be considered.
