Besemah Customary Law as a Living Law in Indonesian Criminal Law Reform from a Restorative Justice Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30641/dejure.2026.V26.241-264Abstract
The recognition of living law under Article 2 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code marks a paradigm shift in Indonesian criminal law reform, enabling the decolonization of a historically retributive legal system. This study addresses the urgent need to harmonize formal legality with living law in inland communities, focusing on the legal status of Besemah customary law within restorative justice without compromising legal certainty, human rights, and national legal unity. While prior scholarship addresses living law, customary criminal law, and restorative justice separately, this study fills the gap by examining Besemah customary law, rooted in the Lampik Empat Merade Sambe principle of social harmony, post-KUHP enactment. Employing a socio-legal approach alongside statutory, conceptual, historical, and case analyses, data were gathered from Law No. 1 of 2023, Besemah customary dispute resolution practices, and scholarly literature. Findings reveal that Besemah mechanisms—specifically Tepung Tawar ritual and Pampas sanctions—align strongly with restitutio in integrum, functioning as sociological and spiritual restoration rather than mere material fines. Recognized as additional penalties requiring fulfillment of customary obligations under the new KUHP, these values gain constitutional legitimacy to eliminate double punishment. However, implementation must respect boundaries set in Article 2, including Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and human rights. The study recommends clearer regulatory parameters to grant customary decisions binding force, positioning customary institutions as strategic partners to state judicial authorities for an inclusive, humanist, and substantively just legal reform.
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