Recognition Of Living Law In Article 2 Of Indonesia’s National Criminal Code: Positivism And Customary Legal Pluralism

Muhammad Hikmal Fathur Akbar

doi:10.37676/sosj.v3i2.1946

Authors

Muhammad Hikmal Fathur Akbar Universitas Bengkulu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37676/sosj.v3i2.1946

Keywords:

Living Law, Principle Of Legality, Legal Pluralism, National Criminal Code, Legal Certainty

Abstract

The enactment of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP Nasional) introduces a fundamental philosophical tension between the formal principle of legality (nullum crimen sine lege) in Article 1(1) and the recognition of living law in Article 2. This article examines the philosophical consistency between customary legal pluralism and the principle of legal certainty within the normative construction of Article 2, taking into account Government Regulation Number 55 of 2025 as its implementing regulation and the pending judicial review case Number 295/PUU-XXIV/2026 before the Constitutional Court. This study employs a normative-juridical method using statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. The findings show that Article 2 does not abolish the principle of legality but extends it into a material legality cumulatively restricted by subsidiarity, territorial confinement of customary law, and conformity with Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and human rights. However, the obligation to codify customary offences into local regulations risks producing a "quasi legal pluralism" that freezes the dynamic character of customary law without fully resolving concerns over legal certainty and the prohibition of analogy. As a theoretical contribution, this article proposes a "restricted material legality" framework as a path of reconciliation between legal positivism and customary legal pluralism in Indonesia's criminal law system.

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