International Journal of Educational Review, Law And Social Sciences (IJERLAS)
Vol. 6 No. 3 (2026)

Legal Certainty and the Reconstruction of Death Penalty Implementation for Premeditated Murder after the Enactment of Indonesia’s New Criminal Code: A Human Rights and Restorative Justice Perspective

Abdul Kadir (Faculty of Law, Universitas Muhammadiyah Tangerang, Indonesia)
Suparji Ahmad (Doctoral Program in Law, Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Ahmad Redi (Master of Law Program, Universitas Borobudur, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Faisal Santiago (Doctoral Program in Law, Universitas Borobudur, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Ibnu Sina Chandranegara (Faculty of Law, Universitas Muhammadiyah Jakarta, Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia)
Upik Mutiara (Master of Law Program, Universitas Muhammadiyah Tangerang, Tangerang, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Jul 2026

Abstract

The death penalty for premeditated murder remains one of the most controversial issues in Indonesia’s criminal justice system because it involves legal certainty, justice, and human rights considerations. This study aims to analyze the legal certainty of the implementation of the death penalty for premeditated murder and to examine the reconstruction of capital punishment after the enactment of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the New Criminal Code. This research employs a normative juridical method using statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches. The study relies on secondary legal materials, including legislation, legal doctrines, books, and scientific journal articles related to criminal law and capital punishment. The findings reveal that the New Criminal Code reconstructs the death penalty from an ordinary principal punishment into a special and conditional punishment imposed only as a last resort. The introduction of a ten-year probationary period provides death row convicts with an opportunity for rehabilitation and possible commutation into life imprisonment based on good behavior and personal reform. However, the implementation of this mechanism still faces challenges concerning legal certainty, particularly due to the absence of clear and objective assessment standards. Furthermore, the current system does not adequately accommodate restorative justice principles because victims’ families are not substantially involved in the sentence evaluation process. Therefore, clearer implementing regulations and greater recognition of victims’ rights are necessary to ensure fairness, transparency, and consistency in the implementation of capital punishment in Indonesia. The reconstruction of the death penalty under the New Criminal Code reflects Indonesia’s effort to modernize its criminal justice system while balancing retributive justice, rehabilitation, legal certainty, and human dignity.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

IJERLAS

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Environmental Science Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Library & Information Science Social Sciences Other

Description

This journal accepts articles on results of the research in fields of Education, Cross Culture, Law, Environmental Empowerment which are the latest issues from the results of activities or practical implementations that are problem solving, comprehensive, meaningful, latest and sustainable findings ...