Essential Principles of Indonesian Criminal Law

The principle of legality holds that an act can only be punished if it was already regulated by law before the act was committed, as reaffirmed in the National Criminal Code (Law No. 1 of 2023), which took effect in January 2026.

The presumption of innocence treats every suspect or defendant as not guilty until a court ruling with final and binding legal force says otherwise. The principle of culpability requires an element of fault — whether intent or negligence — as a condition for holding someone criminally liable.