Integritas: Jurnal Antikorupsi
Vol 12 No 1 (2026): Article in Progress

The risk of coerced confession in the plea mechanism and its implications for corruption cases

Jason Thimoty Silitonga (Universitas Gadjah Mada)



Article Info

Publish Date
24 Jun 2026

Abstract

The integration of guilty plea mechanisms into Indonesia's reformed Code of Criminal Procedure (KUHAP) raises fundamental questions regarding the tension between procedural efficiency and the integrity of substantive truth-seeking, particularly in corruption cases that demand comprehensive evidentiary processes to expose systemically structured criminal networks. This study employs normative legal research utilizing statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches, supported by analysis of primary legal materials, academic literature, and cross-jurisdictional examination of plea bargaining practices across common law and civil law systems. The analysis reveals that the special track mechanism under Law No. 20 of 2025 structurally generates conditions conducive to coerced confession, as negotiations between prosecutors and defendants unfold within an inherently asymmetric power relationship. In corruption cases, this risks producing guilty pleas driven by legal risk calculation rather than factual acknowledgment, potentially halting evidentiary processes before criminal networks are fully exposed  a risk compounded in multi-defendant scenarios where asymmetric use of plea mechanisms may produce evidentiary fragmentation and inconsistent judicial outcomes. Effective implementation requires operationalization through subordinate regulations, strengthened independent judicial verification of confession voluntariness, and inter-institutional coordination to safeguard evidentiary coherence in collective corruption cases.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

integritas

Publisher

Subject

Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice

Description

Terbit sejak 2015, Jurnal Antikorupsi INTEGRITAS (p-ISSN: 2477-118X; e-ISSN: 2615-7977) merupakan jurnal yang menyebarluaskan hasil penelitian atau kajian konseptual tentang korupsi dan subyek yang berelasi dengan korupsi. Jurnal Antikorupsi INTEGRITAS terbit dua nomor dalam setahun ditujukan untuk ...