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VOL. 2, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Comparison of regulations on the criminal action of insultation against The President and Vice President in Indonesian Criminal Law
Authors
Wahyu Eko Putro, Nahdiya Sabrina, Teguh Suratman
Abstract
The regulation of criminal acts of insulting the President and/or Vice
President is a sensitive issue in Indonesian criminal law, as it lies at the
intersection of two legal interests: protecting the dignity of state
institutions and guaranteeing freedom of expression in a democratic state
governed by the rule of law. This study aims to comparatively analyze the
provisions on criminalizing acts of insulting the President and/or Vice
President in Law Number 1 of 1946 and Law Number 1 of 2023, and to examine their
normative implications for the principle of freedom of expression. This study
employs a normative legal research method, combining a statutory and a
comparative legal approach, and analyzes it qualitatively in relation to
applicable norms, principles, and legal constructions. The results show that
the provisions in Law Number 1 of 1946 are still oriented towards protecting
state power, a power-oriented law,
characterized by the nature of ordinary crimes, broad formulations, and the
potential for criminalization of public criticism. In contrast, Law Number 1 of
2023 demonstrates a paradigm shift toward protecting citizens' constitutional
rights through rights-oriented law,
through changing the nature of the offense to an absolute complaint offense,
reducing the criminal penalty, and including an exception clause for criticism
in the public interest. Nevertheless, this study finds that the use of
evaluative terms in formulating the offense still leaves room for multiple
interpretations, potentially creating legal uncertainty in practice. The
novelty of this research lies in its comparative analysis, which not only
highlights changes in norms but also reveals the legal limitations of criminal
law policy reform in maintaining a balance between protecting the President's
dignity and freedom of expression in Indonesia's constitutional democracy.
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Pages:232-236
How to cite this article:
Wahyu Eko Putro, Nahdiya Sabrina, Teguh Suratman "Comparison of regulations on the criminal action of insultation against The President and Vice President in Indonesian Criminal Law". International Journal of Applied Review
, Vol 2, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 232-236
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