The Constitutional Court EXPANDS THE SCOPE OF PRE-TRIAL OBJECTS SO THAT THE COURT BECOMES AUTHORIZED TO ADDRESS REGARDING THE INVALIDITY OF A SUSPECT’S DETERMINATION
Constitutional Court Decision Number 21/PUU-XII/2014 expanded the scope of the Pretrial Object, which initially only examined and decided on the illegality of arrest, detention, termination of investigation or prosecution, claims for compensation and rehabilitation, to the authority to adjudicate regarding the illegality of determining a suspect. Apart from including the determination of suspects in the pre-trial realm, there are also changes to the definition of investigation. Investigations are now no longer just about finding suspects, but after the investigation process is declared complete based on at least two valid pieces of evidence as regulated in Article 184 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, only then can the suspect be determined based on the results of the investigation. So that the determination of a suspect as a perpetrator of a criminal act must be based on a legal basis and clear reasons accompanied by valid evidence and evidence that supports the alleged crime.
In the Constitutional Court Decision, it was decided that the provisions of Article 77 letter A of the Criminal Procedure Code do not have binding legal force as long as they are not interpreted to include the identification of suspects, searches and confiscations. As for one of the legal considerations, the determination of a suspect is part of the investigation process which is a violation of human rights, so the determination of a suspect by investigators should be an object that can be requested for protection through legal efforts in pre-trial institutions. This is solely to protect someone from arbitrary actions by investigators which is likely to occur when someone is named a suspect, even though in the process it turns out there was an error so there are no institutions other than pre-trial institutions that can examine and decide.
After the issuance of this Constitutional Court Decision, a pre-trial application for the determination of a suspect has a legal basis to be submitted to court, however there are special characteristics of a pre-trial application regarding the determination of a suspect, namely 1). The determination of the suspect is invalid because the examination of witnesses, experts, suspects, searches and confiscations were carried out after the determination of the suspect so that 2 (two) pieces of evidence are not met, 2). the second pre-trial application regarding the determination of the suspect cannot be categorized as ne bis in idem because it does not yet involve the subject matter of the case, 3). the determination of the suspect is based on the results of the development of the investigation into other suspects in a different file is invalid.
—> Constitution Court Decision No. 21/PUU-XII/2014 dated 28 April 2015.
Source:
Regards,
Fredrik J. Pinakunary