Judicial Corruption: A Paradox of the Criminal Justice System in the Law Enforcement on Corruption Crime in Indonesia

Abstract

. The criminal justice system in Indonesia today illustrates a paradoxical situation in law enforcement on corruption. On the one hand, the society have great expectation that the criminal justice system can eradicate corruption, on the other hand, law enforcement officers such as national police investigator, public prosecutor, and judge, in their own way continue to weaken law enforcement by committing judicial corruption. The basic problem is how the natures of characters of judicial corruption crime that lead to the paradox of law enforcement on corruption are. Judicial corruption in the criminal justice system can be interpreted as a crime committed by law enforcement officers, such as police investigator, public prosecutor, or judge, who is handling a corruption case, by plotting the case as if the suspect was innocent though he/she is guilty, it is then plotted as if it was a trifle. Therefore, the legal process is reduced as a means of gaining benefit and personal wealth. Some of them are just formal procedure for implementing the law. This is the paradox of the criminal justice system in law enforcement on corruption in Indonesia. Judicial corruption has mostly affected law enforcement officers’ life by deviating from law enforcement. The results of the analysis, the natures of judicial corruption crime committed by law enforcement officers in the criminal justice system form mental constructions which tend to damage and weaken the law, namely: (1) disregard of the law, (2) cherry-picking, (3) limiting the legal’s reach, (4) narrowing the meaning of the law, (5) exploiting the severity of the sentence.