Codification of Corruption Offences in the New Indonesian Criminal Code: Opportunities and Challenges for the Spirit of Eradicating Corruption in Indonesia

Abstract

The entry into force of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP) on 2 January 2026, together with Law Number 1 of 2026 on Penal Adjustment, moved five core corruption offences from the Anti-Corruption Law (UU Tipikor) into Articles 603–606 of the KUHP. This change raises the question of whether codification strengthens or instead weakens the spirit of eradicating corruption. This study addresses two questions: what opportunities are opened by the codification of corruption offences, and what normative and institutional challenges accompany it. The study employs a normative juridical method with statutory, conceptual, and inter-norm comparative approaches, supported by secondary data from the Corruption Perceptions Index. The findings show that codification opens opportunities in the form of integration of the general principles of Book One, an adaptive category-based fine system, more systematic regulation of corporate criminal liability, an increased minimum penalty in Article 604, and the retention of special minimum penalties for corruption by the Penal Adjustment Law. However, codification also creates challenges: a reduction of the minimum penalty for the state-loss offence from four to two years, the absence of an explicit death penalty provision, ambiguity in the elucidation of Article 603 regarding the authority to calculate state losses, fragmentation of the regime between the KUHP and the Anti-Corruption Law, and the incompatibility of the sentencing guidelines in Supreme Court Regulation (PERMA) 1/2020. This article contributes by mapping the regulatory regime after the Penal Adjustment Law and by offering a matrix of opportunities, challenges, and policy recommendations to preserve the character of corruption as an extraordinary crime within a codified criminal law system.