The Problem of Limitation of Administrative and Criminal Responsibility of Officials in the Perspective of Corruption Criminal Law in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64670/jlpr.v2i3.136Keywords:
abuse of authority, administrative liability, corruption, discretion, state financial lossAbstract
The unclear boundary between the administrative and criminal liability of public officials continues to create legal uncertainty in the enforcement of corruption law in Indonesia. State financial losses are frequently used as the primary basis for bringing administrative actions or public policies into the criminal sphere, even when abuse of authority and individual culpability have not been adequately established. This study aims to analyse the boundaries between the administrative and criminal liability of public officials and to formulate legal parameters for determining when an administrative action becomes a corruption offence. It employs normative legal research using statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. The legal materials are analysed qualitatively through grammatical, systematic, and teleological interpretation. The findings demonstrate that state financial loss cannot serve as the sole basis for criminal liability. Criminal punishment must be supported by evidence of an unlawful act or abuse of authority, criminal culpability, unlawful benefit, actual state financial loss, and a causal relationship between the official's conduct and the resulting loss. This study proposes a three-tier model of liability comprising administrative error, administrative abuse of authority, and corruption. This model clarifies the appropriate legal mechanism for each category of misconduct, prevents the criminalisation of public policies adopted in good faith, and ensures criminal accountability for corrupt abuses of authority.
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