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Govt pushes ahead with revised Criminal Code, calling it ‘historic mission’
Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Edward OS Hiariej said the House would expedite the deliberation of the Criminal Code draft and claimed that the bill’s passage was long overdue.
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Wearing masks of national heroes, People’s Alliance for Democratic Justice activists rally during the weekly Car Free Day event near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Sept. 15, 2019, to reject the draft revision of the Criminal Code. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
D
espite widespread calls to pause deliberations on the revised Criminal Code so that public concerns can be addressed, the Law and Human Rights Ministry expects the legislation to be “expedited” for passage in the coming months.
Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Edward OS Hiariej, a former law professor at Gadjah Mada University, said that although the draft revisions to the Criminal Code would be unlikely make it to a House of Representatives plenary session in July, a deal could be struck in August to pass the bill into law.
The deputy minister said the government was on “a historic mission” to decolonize the current Criminal Code, which is founded on Dutch colonial law.
"The next plenary session is just 10 days away, and the House will go into recess until Aug. 16, so it is unlikely that the revisions to the Criminal Code will be passed in early July," Edward said at a public discussion last week.
He added, however, that the government and the House would expedite the deliberation of the Criminal Code draft and claimed the bill’s passage was long overdue.
"People have asked why we suddenly want to pass this law. There's nothing sudden about the process. The proposal to update the Criminal Code began in 1958, and a draft revision was brought to the House in 1963," he said.
The deputy minister also defended the government’s decision not make the draft revision available to the public, saying it would be released once it had been accepted by the House for discussion.
