Ervana Trikarinaputri, Jakarta – The civil society coalition is urging Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to leverage his authority to retract the Criminal Procedure Code Bill (KUHAP). The parliament is gearing up to pass the bill in the upcoming plenary session.
The Civil Society Coalition for the Reform of KUHAP believes that there are a slew of problems with the bill's deliberation process and the provisions.
"We appeal to the President to withdraw the draft of the KUHAP Bill as of November 13, 2025, and not to proceed with the second stage deliberation in the plenary session," said the Coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition for the Reform of KUHAP, Muhammad Isnur, in a written statement on Friday, November 14, 2025.
Yesterday, on November 13, 2025, the House Commission III and the government agreed on the draft revisions of KUHAP Law Number 8 of 1981 to proceed to the second stage deliberation.
Muhammad Isnur noted that the deliberation seemed rushed, to be ratified and enforced alongside the new Criminal Code (KUHP) in January 2026.
"Moreover, there was no response to the letter from the Civil Society Coalition regarding the request for answers to inputs during the Public Hearing, as well as written inputs, let alone considered and accommodated in the deliberation of the KUHAP Bill," said Isnur.
On the other hand, the Chair of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) spoke about the problematic provisions in the KUHAP Bill. The draft law contains problematic, flexible articles and ones that promote the misuse of authority.
Therefore, the Coalition requests the government and the DPR to revise the substance of the draft KUHAP Bill as of November 13, 2025. The government and the DPR also need to reconsider the concept direction of KUHAP changes to strengthen judicial scrutiny and the mechanism of checks and balances.
The Coalition also emphasizes that the government must not use misleading reasons to enforce the Criminal Code. "Solely for the rushed ratification of the problematic KUHAP Bill," said Isnur.
Earlier, the Chair of the DPR Commission III, Habiburokhman, stated that the KUHAP Bill will be discussed at the earliest plenary session. "Yes, the nearest one, next week," he said at the DPR/MPR Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday, November 13, 2025.
He mentioned that two days ago, the KUHAP Bill Working Committee specifically reviewed a number of articles previously agreed upon for revision due to public input. The public referred to, he said, are the civil society coalition, lawyer organizations, and students.
Input was also provided by the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform through WhatsApp messages. "However, we regret that not all inputs could be accommodated," he said.
"This is the reality of the parliament. We have to compromise with each other, accept the thoughts of our colleagues. But not all can be accommodated. We apologize," he said.
– Andi Adam Faturahman contributed to the writing of this article.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2065651/civil-society-coalition-urges-prabowo-to-retract-draft-of-kuhap-bil