Indonesia is working on a rule that would force authorities to investigate and prosecute more corporate criminals, as well as the companies they work for.
While indicting corporations for corruption in a court of law should make for an interesting topic, it has not gotten the attention it deserves in terms of legal policy from the Indonesian government. Occasionally, directors and relevant higher-ups get arrested and penalized. But the vast majority of white-collar criminals get away with it the archipelago.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has long wanted to make a major breakthrough in the Indonesian penal code but has been successful so far only up to the part about declaring its intention—and nothing more.
KPK Vice Chairman Alexander Marwata reported that corporations continue to enjoy most of the “corrupt money,” giving the government what would be too much of a headache if it truly wanted to recover all the losses. With a newly proposed regulation in place, Marwata says, there’s a good chance the state would be able to more easily recover losses from big conglomerates should crime or malpractice be involved.
KPK Deputy Chairman Laode M. Syarif said on Tuesday, October 18, that a court regulation guide for law enforcement institutions is expected be issued soon.
According to the Eradication of Corruption regulation Article 20 of Law No.31/1999, indictments and criminal sentencing can be directed at the corporation and/or administrators of the corporation in question.
The regulation will outline the legal processes to be carried out to ensure corporations are held responsible when their leaders are implicated in criminal offenses that benefit their companies. The deputy chairman added that the drafting is expected to be finalized soon, where 95 percent of the process has been completed and is only waiting to be signed by the Supreme Court.
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The Supreme Court welcomed collaborative input from the Attorney General’s Office, the National Police and from the KPK during the drafting process.
Laode explained that if passed, the regulation will allow for the efficient cooperation between those involved, as firm guidelines would now be in place. He further warned the country’s businessmen to “stop bribing state officials and influencing public policies.”
While there have been several laws with stipulations on corporate crimes in Indonesia, law enforcement agencies have been hesitant to act against corporate crimes for a lack of provisions on the matter.
Criminal law expert Abdul Fickar Hadjar recently disclosed that the policy will come in the form of a Supreme Court regulation, as the founding rules have already been provided by the current law.
