Arkus
Vol. 11 No. 2 (2025): Arkus

Between Positivism and Substantive Justice: Predictors of Pancasila Value Actualization Among State-Judiciary Actors

Indrayani (Law Study Program, Faculty of Law, Universitas Riau Indonesia, Rengat, Indonesia)
Henry Halim (Law Study Program, Faculty of Law, Universitas Riau Indonesia, Rengat, Indonesia)
Imran (Law Study Program, Faculty of Law, Universitas Riau Indonesia, Rengat, Indonesia)
Imeldalius (Law Study Program, Faculty of Law, Universitas Riau Indonesia, Rengat, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
29 Jun 2026

Abstract

The Indonesian Constitution anchors adjudication in Pancasila, mandating a balance between legal certainty, utility, and social justice, yet how state-judiciary actors actualize these ideological values in practice remains empirically underexplored, particularly in resource-rich regions beset by agrarian and socio-economic conflict. This study analyzed the predictors and contextual variation of Pancasila value actualization among judicial actors in a resource-rich province in Sumatra, Indonesia. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design combined a structured survey of 215 legal apparatus across three anonymized court jurisdictions (urban, coastal, agrarian) with interviews of 15 judges and 9 prosecutors and 45 purposively selected verdicts (2021-2025). Validated multi-item scales measured actualization, substantive justice orientation, legal positivism orientation, restorative justice practice, and institutional constraint; reliability was good to excellent (Cronbach's α 0.861-0.911). Overall actualization was constrained (mean 2.05 of 5). Multiple regression explained 53.0% of the variance (F(7,207) = 33.39, p < 0.001); substantive justice orientation was the strongest positive predictor (β = 0.467, 95% CI 0.356 to 0.577), followed by restorative justice practice (β = 0.240), whereas legal positivism (β = -0.205) and institutional constraint (β = -0.133) were negative. Actualization differed by court typology (F(2,212) = 12.91, p < 0.001, η² = 0.109), being highest in the agrarian court (Cohen's d = 0.75 versus urban). Institutional constraint partially mediated the justice-orientation pathway (Sobel z = 2.31, p = 0.021). Actualization is therefore a contextual, modellable negotiation rather than uniform application; embedding Pancasila-based progressive interpretation in judicial training and protecting judges from annulment-driven anxiety could strengthen substantive justice.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

arkus

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Medicine & Pharmacology Social Sciences

Description

Arkus publishes original articles, article reviews, and case reports and is designed as a place of dissemination of information and scientific knowledge to develop human wealth. Arkus publishes all manuscripts in multidisciplinary fields (social sciences, sciences, technology, engineering, health, ...