Family Law Reform in Indonesia in the Perspective of Criminal Law

Suryani

Universitas Islam Negeri Fatmawati Sukarno, Bengkulu, Indonesia.

Abstract:

Family law addresses various family-related issues, including marriage, child support, child abduction, adoption, inheritance, divorce, domestic violence, etc. Most family law provisions in Indonesia are governed by the "Indonesia Criminal Code" (KUHP). However, family law reforms from the criminal law perspective in Indonesia have received little attention in previous research; therefore, the present study has effectively filled this research vacuum. This study employed a judicial legal methodology, and secondary qualitative data was collected from various primary and secondary sources. NVivo was used to perform the content analysis. To achieve the research objective, this study focused on family law in Indonesia and various family law reforms in the context of child marriage, domestic violence, child abduction, parental neglect, and same-sex marriages from the criminal law perspective. According to the findings of this study, family law matters are handled by two distinct categories of courts: religious and district courts. It has been determined that the KUHP and Indonesian marriage law cannot implement a minimum age of 18 for marriage, as international human rights treaties require. Likewise, the KUHP is unable to protect individuals from domestic violence. The development and implementation of UU PKDRT have been effective in this regard. If they cause injury to the children, child abduction and parental neglect are also crimes punishable under the KUHP and child protection law.Nonetheless, same-sex marriages are illegal in Indonesia. Consequently, various recommendations to enhance the family law implications in Indonesia have also been provided. For instance, cooperation between Indonesia's legal authorities and international human rights organizations should be strengthened. This study has both theoretical and practical implications.

Keyword:

family law reform; Indonesia; criminal law; KUHP; marriage law