Jakarta – A student alliance is urging the Constitutional Court (MK) to grant a judicial review of Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice.
This demand was conveyed by the group Democracy and Legal Social Concern during a demonstration at the Constitutional Court building on Tuesday April 28.
Action coordinator Faldo said that judicial review Number 260/PUU-XXIII/2025 must be granted because articles in the Military Justice Law obscure legal jurisdiction.
He highlighted the principle of equality before the law, as stipulated under Article 1 paragraph (3), Article 24 paragraph (1), Article 27 paragraph (1) and Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. According to these articles, reminded Faldo, all citizens are equal before the law.
But, he said, these articles are contradicted by provisions under Article 9 point 1, Article 43 paragraph (3) and Article 127 of Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice.
"There is no clear norm which clarifies that if a TNI [Indonesian Military] soldier is suspected of committing a general criminal offense, the general court must try them", he said.
"The uncertainty and resulting legal controversy regarding absolute competence have created ambiguity regarding legal jurisdiction and the law enforcement process, and have provided loopholes for exceptions", he added.
Faldo believes there must be a clear and measurable separation between the elements that qualify as a military criminal offense and the legal jurisdiction that adjudicates it.
According to Faldo, if indeed negligence occurs while a TNI soldier is carrying out their duties, it constitutes a military criminal offense.
This is because there is an order from a superior officer or it is being carried out officially as long as there is no civilian involvement in the criminal act.
However, if a TNI member is not on duty or is not engaged in a military operation, whether war or not, the crime committed falls under the elements of a general criminal offense. Therefore, he said, a public court has the jurisdiction to try him.
"In fact there has been a disconnect and lack of clarity regarding judicial jurisdiction, making everything absurd or unclear regarding the meaning of the principle of equality before the law", he explained.
"This creates legal uncertainty, inconsistency and inaccuracy in the application of absolute competence or related to judicial jurisdiction," he added.
On the other hand, he also highlighted the recent acid attack case against Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Deputy Coordinator Andrie Yunus, which should have served as a momentum for reforming the military justice system by the Military Justice Law.
Faldo said this is also crucial so that military justice is no longer burdened with cases of violations by members that should be tried by general courts. In this way, military courts can focus on handling cases of violations related to military service and violations of the military code of ethics.
"With the increasing number of criminal cases involving military personnel, including murder, which is a common crime, the government and the DPR [House of Representatives] must immediately take concrete steps by expediting the revision of Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice", he concluded. (tfq/dal)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aliansi Mahasiswa Desak MK Kabulkan Uji Materi UU Peradilan Militer".]