BANDUNG, unpas.ac.id – For the past few years, handling legal case with the approach of restorative justice is getting massively used to respond on legal dynamics which start to shift from positivism to the progressive ones.
During 2021, Indonesian Police has already gotten rid of 11.811 criminal cases by using the approach of restorative justice. Compared to previous year in 2020, these numbers have increase as much as 28,3 percent.
Vice Dean I of Faculty of Law Universitas Pasundan Dr. Hj. Rd. Dewi Asri Yustia, M.H stated that the appearance of restorative justice approach referred to the various cases which are not included in the criminal law.
“We take an example: fraudulent investment. This is not a pure criminal case, but it actually comes and is causes by economic or civil law,” she said on Thursday, 1 September 2022, quoted from AFOKUM Volume 3.
She also added that if a person is involved in fraudulent investment and charged for retributive justice or sentenced in prison, that person do not necessarily feel deterred instantly and fully get justice.
The case can be resolved with a restorative justice approach that uses a win-win solution approach or find a way out together, even though the case is in the criminal.
“In the case of fraudulent investments, generally, investment victims rarely want the perpetrators to be sentenced to prison, but want their assets to be reinvested,” she said.
What case can be solved by restorative justice?
However, only certain cases which can be solved by restorative justice; it is based on the type of criminal case itself, age range of the perpetrators and the purpose to be achieved.
“We take a look at the type of crime and the perpetrators first, whether they are minors, teenagers, adults, or the elderly. We also consider the purpose we would to achieve, whether we want the perpetrators to get a deterrent effect or just ask for compensation to restore the situation,” he added.
If the case is over and both parties agree to make peace, (the perpetrator is punished or compensated, the victim is treated fairly or gets compensation), law enforcement has the right to stop the legal process and may not question the problem in the future.
The concept of restorative justice, she continued, is considered appropriate to resolve criminal cases that do not require severe punishment, such as misuse of property or cases with minors and parents.
“Restorative justice is an alternative to the criminal law system in Indonesia. If viewed positively, restorative justice intends to stabilize conditions, according to the criminal objectives that we are carrying, namely justice, benefit, and recovery,” she said. (Reta)**
