Reconstructing Legal Protection for Victims In The New Indonesian Code of Criminal Procedure (KUHAP): Between Legal Certainty and Human Rights

Abstract

The reform of Indonesian criminal procedure through Law Number 20 of 2025 has strengthened the formal recognition of crime victims, but the practical relationship between legal certainty and human-rights protection requires closer examination. This study aims to assess the victim-protection framework in the new Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) and formulate a reconstruction that makes victims’ rights operational without weakening the due process rights of suspects and defendants. The research uses normative legal research with statutory, conceptual, comparative, and human-rights approaches. Primary materials comprise Law Number 20 of 2025, the 1945 Constitution, and the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power; secondary materials comprise recent legal scholarship and methodological literature. The analysis shows that the new KUHAP represents a substantial advance because it expressly regulates victim rights, including information, protection, restitution, restorative justice, assistance, and victim-impact statements, notably in Articles 53, 79–88, 144, and 161. Nevertheless, several implementation questions remain, particularly concerning institutional coordination, operational standards, time limits, and effective remedies for non-fulfilment. The study therefore proposes a reconstruction centred on victims as rights-bearing legal subjects, clearer implementation duties, integrated recovery mechanisms, and accessible review procedures. This model seeks to connect normative recognition with enforceable protection while maintaining a balanced criminal process grounded in legal certainty, justice, utility, and human rights.