Reconstruction Of The Regulation Of Adultery In The New Criminal Code

The change in the regulation of adultery in the new Criminal Code is part of the reconstruction of the national criminal law which is directed to adjust the criminal law to social, cultural, religious, moral, and Pancasila values. Article 284 of the old Criminal Code was considered to have a limited scope because it only regulates adultery for parties who are bound by marriage. As a result, sexual relations outside marriage and the practice of cohabitation without a marital bond have not been adequately reached, even though in practice they can cause social problems, especially for women who are vulnerable to social, economic, psychological, and health losses. This study uses a normative juridical method with a legislative approach, a conceptual approach, and a qualitative approach. The legal materials used consist of the old Criminal Code, the new Criminal Code, books, scientific journals, legal articles, as well as the results of previous research related to adultery, women's protection, criminal law, and Islamic law. The results of the study show that Article 411 and Article 412 of the new Criminal Code reflect a change in the paradigm of Indonesian criminal law, from the original emphasis on formal legal certainty to criminal law that also pays attention to morality, social order, and the protection of vulnerable groups. The arrangement can be seen as a preventive effort by the state in protecting women from relationships without legal certainty, while protecting the health of the public and the younger generation from the negative impact of promiscuity. Thus, the new Criminal Code not only functions as a criminal instrument, but also as a means of social protection and the development of national criminal law based on Indonesian values.

Adultery · Criminal Code · Criminal justice · Criminal law · Criminal procedure · Legislature · Normative · Theory of criminal justice · Gender and Women's Rights · Indonesian Legal and Regulatory Studies · Legal and Social Justice Studies