Prevention of Criminal Prosecution Resulted from Breach of Contract

Abstract

The business world is closely associated with agreements. In fact, there is no business without agreement. Under the Indonesian Civil Code, agreements are classified into special names which are arranged in chapter five to chapter eighteen Burgerlijk Wetboek (abbreviated BW) and those which is not known under a special name, still subject to the general provisions which are stipulated in BW. The agreement is like a vessel that provides the parties justice and certainty in carrying out their obligations to obtain their respective rights. However, in its development it is not uncommon for an agreement that started from a civil deed later then transform to become a criminal act. From time to time, creditors, who are entitled to rights of debtors’ accountability, may take shortcuts in an effort to suppress debtors to immediately pay off their obligations in ways that are not necessarily "as is" to create a criminal condition from an agreement that was originally regulated under the private law. This paper reviews (1) what legal elements create a breach of contract; (2) which legal element of breach of contract that risk in creating conditions that could arise to criminal prosecution; and (3) how to prevent it.