Journal Juris Sinergi
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2026): Emerging Legal Issues and Contemporary Legal Studies

Legal-Technical Secularization and the Reconstruction of Religion–State Relations in Indonesian Criminal Law Reform: An Analysis of the National Criminal Code and the 2025 Criminal Procedure Code

Nasrullah (Al Washliyah Muslim Nusantara University)
Wirandi Dalimunthe (Al Washliyah Muslim Nusantara University)
Ismed Batubara (Al Washliyah Muslim Nusantara University)



Article Info

Publish Date
18 Oct 2026

Abstract

Indonesia’s criminal law reform under Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code and Law No. 20 of 2025 on the Criminal Procedure Code raises a fundamental question concerning the constitutional transformation of religious and moral values into enforceable criminal norms. Employing doctrinal legal research through statutory, conceptual, and functional-comparative approaches, this article examines legal-technical secularization, changing religion–state relations, and the safeguards governing criminalization. Three findings emerge. First, Article 2 and Articles 411–412 of the Criminal Code subject living law and morality-related offenses to legally defined conditions, offense elements, and complaint requirements. Second, Article 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code addresses categories of admissible evidence and the judicial assessment of unlawfully obtained or inauthentic evidence; such provisions do not, by themselves, resolve wider questions of privacy, equality, or proportionality. Third, Malaysia and Singapore demonstrate distinct approaches to the allocation of religious-law jurisdiction and institutional competence. The article proposes an integrative-constitutional model linking sources of normative value, the statutory construction of offenses, procedural enforcement, and constitutional review. Its four-stage assessment offers a structured test of legitimate interests, necessity, normative precision, and judicial safeguards without equating statutory codification with the disappearance of religion from law.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

jsj

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice

Description

Juris Sinergi Journal (JSJ) merupakan jurnal hukum yang berfokus pada penelitian interdisipliner dalam bidang hukum. Jurnal ini menyediakan platform bagi para peneliti untuk menerbitkan karya-karya yang menyinergikan berbagai aspek hukum dengan disiplin ilmu lain, mencakup studi kasus, teori hukum, ...