Legal Literacy - This article discusses corporate criminal liability in the new Criminal Code. Want to know about criminal liability? Let's see

Written by:Wilson Fu, S.H.(Legal Intern at Schinder Law Firm)

Ratification of the New Criminal Code

On January 2, 2023, the latest Draft Criminal Code was enacted into Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (New Criminal Code). The formation of the law aims to replace Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning Regulations Criminal law (Old Criminal Code). The promulgation of the New Criminal Code marks the start of the transition to an era of criminal law made in Indonesia. Because, the Old Criminal Code is known as the Dutch colonial heritage Criminal Code.

Renewal of the Provisions of the Old Criminal Code and the New Criminal Code

One of the differences between the Old Criminal Code and the New Criminal Code is related to the regulation of corporate responsibility. Before the New Criminal Code was passed, the regulation of corporate criminal liability was spread across various laws, such as the Emergency Law on Investigation, Prosecution and Adjudication of Economic Crimes; Law on Corruption; Law on the Environment; and others. In the New Criminal Code, corporate criminal liability is regulated in Articles 45 to 50. With these regulations, corporations can be held accountable for criminal acts in general, so that they are not only limited to several criminal acts regulated in several laws mentioned above.