Realism: Law Review

The Effectiveness of Administrative Sanctions in Promoting Legal Compliance in Indonesian Legislation

Dedy Suwandi — 2026-04-26

Administrative sanctions play an important role in promoting legal compliance within Indonesian administrative law, yet their effectiveness remains limited due to inconsistencies between normative design and enforcement practice. This study addresses the need for a more systematic understanding of administrative sanctions by examining their normative structure across sectors and evaluating their practical implementation. The research adopts a socio-legal approach that prioritizes normative legal analysis, supported by limited empirical insights from interviews and secondary legal materials. The analysis is guided by a theoretical framework that integrates legal substance, institutional structure, and legal culture. The findings show that administrative sanctions are formally structured through a graduated model, but their application is often inconsistent, with weak escalation, limited monitoring, and fragmented institutional coordination. As a result, sanctions tend to function symbolically rather than as effective instruments of compliance. The study proposes a theoretical model of administrative sanction effectiveness based on the alignment of normative coherence, institutional capacity, and enforcement legitimacy. Strengthening this alignment is essential for transforming administrative sanctions into reliable tools of regulatory governance and achieving sustainable legal compliance.

Transformation of Legal Communication in the Criminal Justice System in the Digital Era

Faisal Faisal — 2026-04-26

Legal communication is fundamental in the criminal justice system, serving as a medium for interpreting, transmitting, and implementing legal norms between law enforcement institutions and society. The reform of the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP 2025) represents a strategic initiative to modernize the criminal justice system by strengthening transparency, accountability, and human rights protection in the digital era. This study employs pure normative legal research supported by a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), applying statutory, conceptual, and case-based approaches, including comparative analysis between the previous KUHAP and KUHAP 2025. Findings reveal that digital transformation has significantly reshaped legal communication by expanding interaction from formal courtroom procedures to technology-based communication between law enforcement agencies and the public. However, this transformation generates normative challenges related to data protection, technological readiness, and legal certainty in digital criminal proceedings. The study recommends standardized digital communication procedures in criminal law, strengthened data protection frameworks, and development of an integrated e-justice regulatory model. Overall, KUHAP 2025 reflects a shift toward a more transparent, adaptive, and technology-based criminal justice system grounded in constitutional values.

Legal Paradigm Shifts In The Age Of Digital Transformation

Galang Taufani — 2026-04-28

Digital transformation has reshaped the foundations of law, not only technologically but also normatively and methodologically. Legal paradigms in the digital era must be examined through systematic interpretation, doctrinal reasoning, and normative critique. This study, based on normative legal research with a conceptual approach, utilizes legal materials from books and scholarly journals. Findings reveal three major challenges: first, a legal vacuum and regulatory lag, as technological innovation outpaces regulation, leaving many digital activities ungoverned. Second, a jurisdictional crisis arises because territorially bound national legal systems cannot effectively regulate global digital interactions. Third, regulatory fragmentation occurs due to overlapping digital regulations, creating legal uncertainty. Consequently, the effectiveness of law in the digital age is not measured by the number of regulations but by its adaptability, integrative capacity, and progressive interpretation in response to technological dynamics. Without such transformation, law risks irrelevance in governing digital society

The New Direction of Legislative Pension System in Constitutional Court Decision 191/PUU-XXIII/2025

Alfian Reymon Makaruku — 2026-04-28

This paper analyzes the legal reasoning, implications, and normative relevance of Constitutional Court Decision No. 191/PUU-XXIII/2025, which conditionally declares the pension provisions in Law No. 12 of 1980 unconstitutional. The ruling maintains the provisions temporarily, subject to amendment within a specified timeframe. Using a normative legal method with legislative and conceptual approaches, the study highlights that the Court’s reasoning emphasizes equality, constitutional rights protection, and social justice for retired members of the House of Representatives. It also underscores the need to harmonize pension regulations with principles of social justice and fiscal rationality. The legal implications encourage reform of the pension system, adjustments in administration and procedures, and greater accountability and transparency in managing pension rights. Philosophically, the decision reinforces the principles of social justice and the rule of law, serving as a precedent for lawmakers in designing fair and proportionate public policies. Beyond substantive legal aspects, it stresses the importance of welfare and the protection of pension rights, ensuring that legal frameworks remain responsive to constitutional values and societal needs.

Legal Reconstruction of Digital Asset Confiscation of Cybercrime in Indonesia

P Pebrin Putra Yasa — 2026-04-29

This article examines the legal framework for the enforcement of digital assets in cybercrime within the Indonesian legal system. The rapid development of digital assets, particularly cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, has created new challenges for criminal law enforcement, particularly in asset recovery mechanisms. Existing regulations, including the Criminal Code (KUHP) and the ITE Law, do not comprehensively address the unique characteristics of blockchain-based assets. This study employs a normative juridical method with legal, contextual, and comparative approaches. The findings reveal significant legal and technical barriers to tracking, freezing, and identifying digital assets due to their decentralized and anonymous nature. This article proposes a reconstruction of criminal law policy by recognizing digital assets as objects of potential harm, strengthening procedural mechanisms, and enhancing international cooperation. This study contributes to the development of cyber law and provides practical recommendations for law enforcement agencies in Indonesia.

Executive Power in Indonesia: Independent Institutions and the Unitary Executive Theory Perspective

Putri Mega Silvia Pa — 2026-04-30

This article examines the presence of independent agencies that perform executive functions within Indonesia’s constitutional system as a normative critique of post-reform institutional design. The article discusses the concept of the Unitary Executive Theory, which developed in the United States as an adherent of a pure presidential system, the position of the President under the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, as well as the relevance and operationalization of this theory within the context of Indonesia’s constitutional system. The research employs a normative legal approach using four methodologies: the statutory approach, the conceptual approach, the comparative approach, and the historical approach. The conclusion of this article is that the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia contains a sufficient constitutional basis for the application of the Weak Unitary Executive Theory; therefore, institutions performing executive functions should be under the President’s chain of command to ensure presidential accountability and consistency.

Optimizing Online Police Clearance Certificate Services: Empirical Legal Analysis of Digital Public Service Innovation

Gede Adhi Arya Wiryanatha — 2026-04-30

This study aims to analyze the implementation of the online Police Clearance Certificate (SKCK) service as a digital innovation in public service at the Administrative Service Section (Si Yanmin) of the Intelligence and Security Directorate, Central Kalimantan Regional Police. The background of this study is based on the increasing demand for public services that are efficient, transparent, and responsive in the digital era. This research is an empirical legal research that employs a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation as data collection techniques. The findings indicate that the implementation of the online SKCK service has improved service responsiveness through faster processing time, enhanced efficiency by simplifying administrative procedures, and strengthened accountability and transparency through an integrated digital system. From the perspective of innovation diffusion theory, the service demonstrates a relatively high level of adoption, as most users prefer the online system due to its practicality and efficiency. However, several challenges remain, including system and network instability, limited digital literacy among users, and constraints in human resources. This study concludes that the online SKCK service is operationally effective but remains in a consolidation stage toward achieving a more stable, inclusive, and fully optimized digital public service.