DPR Fast-Tracks RUU KUHAP: When the Law Becomes the Trap

Last Friday, 14 November 2025, the DPR’s commission decided—because why not—that the revised Criminal Procedural Code, or RUU KUHAP, should waltz its way to a plenary vote. Scheduled for Tuesday, 18 November 2025, because apparently, 270 million people’s rights can’t wait for a long weekend. Civil society, of course, threw up their hands and called it what it is. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Now, the fun part: the draft hands investigators the kind of power usually reserved for Bond villains. Arrest you before a crime exists? Sure. Detain you before you’re even a suspect? Of course. And if you’re wondering how they’ll manage that, well, entrapment is on the table—state actors gently nudging you into crimes you’d never dream of committing. The burden of proof, in my opinion, seems to have taken a coffee break. ^{[5] [6]}

But wait, there’s more. Phone surveillance? No problem. Freeze your bank account? Easy. Seize your assets? Why not. And the best part? None of it requires a judge’s blessing. ^{[7] [8]}

Then there’s the transparency. The latest draft isn’t exactly front and center on the DPR’s website. No, you’ll have to dig it up on some external link, like a treasure hunt where the prize is your own disenfranchisement. Legislation for 270 million people, hidden away like a membership form for an exclusive club. ^{[9] [10]}

In fairness, you’d think a bill this transformative—one that redraws the lines between citizen and suspect—might get a proper public airing. But no. It’s being rushed through like a last-minute tax bill. The only thing moving faster than the timeline is the principle of accountability, apparently sprinting in the opposite direction. The original question was What can we do? And the answer, as ever, is: ask nicely. Or, in my opinion, demand that the people’s representatives remember who pays their salaries.

Until then, the RUU KUHAP stands as a helpful reminder: in Indonesia, the law isn’t just on the state’s side. Sometimes, it’s the net. Make of that what you will.

What has happened since

The plenary vote, as scheduled, went ahead. On 18 November 2025, the DPR passed RUU KUHAP into law while students protested and civil society shouted into the void. ^[11] Law No. 20/2025 then took effect on 2 January 2026, right on time, alongside the revised KUHP. ^[12]

The first real test came in February 2026, when twelve petitioners—including two who’d been named suspects in the May Day 2025 labor protests—asked the Constitutional Court to strike down the law’s vague provisions on search, seizure, and “other lawful actions.” ^[13] On 16 March 2026, the Court declined to weigh in, ruling the petitioners lacked standing because their cases had been processed under the old code. A technicality, in other words. ^[14]

---