Corrupt But Functioning
Legal Brokerage in Indonesia’s Criminal Justice System
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21409730 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rafiqa Qurrata A’yun (0000-0003-2844-9697, University of Indonesia, corresponding author), Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir (0000-0002-3045-5327, The University of Melbourne) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-27 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Contemporary Asia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2336 • E-ISSN: 1752-7554 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00472336.2026.2682877 |
| OpenAlex | W7165873266 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 30 |
The practice of brokering legal cases involving both material and non-material exchanges with influential actors remains deeply entrenched despite over two decades of democratic law reforms in Indonesia. This persistence is often attributed to weak legal institutions and incompetent judicial actors, indicating a dysfunction stemming from an incomplete institutionalisation of the rule of law and uneven state development. This explanation, influenced by the Weberian approach, tends to idealise autonomous law as a historical endpoint for all societies while neglecting the underlying power dynamics and class conflicts that perpetuate the corrupt legal system. Employing a critical political economy perspective, this article argues that the persistence of legal brokerage underscores the nature of Indonesia’s political-legal order, wherein corruption is the norm rather than the exception. This corrupt legal system is an outcome of a distinct trajectory of capitalism that relies heavily on extra-economic mechanisms of accumulation, including the brokering of legal cases. Hence, instead of indicating an aberration, the brokerage ironically reflects a functioning legal order in Indonesia. This argument is substantiated through an analysis of notable instances of brokerage within the criminal justice system, highlighting the influences of non-legal aspects and powerful individuals in shaping judicial processes and outcomes
Argument (complex analysis) · Capitalism · Criminal justice · Institutionalisation · Language change · Norm (philosophy) · Politics · Rule of law · State (computer science) · Asian Studies and History · Corruption and Economic Development · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance
Judicial mafia
Law and Politics of Blasphemy in Indonesia
State of Disorder
Reorganising Power in Indonesia
How Autonomous Is Law
Autonomy of law in Indonesia
The rule of law and capitalism in East Asia
The Perils of Wishful Thinking
Prosecutors and Politics in Comparative Perspective
Doing business under the framework of disorder
Where the Action Is
Jokowi’s Authoritarian Turn and Indonesia’s Democratic Decline
Reformasi Reversal
Indonesia's Criminal Justice System
Complexity and Contradiction in the Legal Order
The Perils of Legal Formalism
On the Need to Study Weak State Institutions
The Quest for Legal Certainty and the Reorganization of Power
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |