Definition of Criminal Law
According to W.P.J. Pompe, Criminal law is all the legal rules that determine what actions should be punished and what kind of punishment they are.
According to W.L.G. Lemaire , Criminal Law is a law consisting of norms containing obligations and prohibitions which (by the legislators) have been linked to a sanction in the form of punishment, namely a special suffering
According to Van Hamel, Criminal law is all the basic principles and regulations contained in a country in implementing legal order, namely prohibiting what is contrary to the law and imposing misery on those who violate it.
According to C.S.T. Kansil, Criminal law is the law that regulates violations and crimes against the public interest, acts which are threatened with punishment which constitutes torture or suffering.
According to Moeljatno, Criminal law is part of the overall law in force in a country, which provides the basics and rules for :
1. determine actions that may not be carried out, are prohibited , accompanied by threats or sanctions in the form of certain penalties for those who violate them.
2. determine when and in what cases those who violate the prohibition may be subject to or punished as threatened.
3. And determine how the imposition of criminal penalties can be carried out if someone is suspected of having violated the prohibition.
Thus, criminal law is a law that re gulates violations a n d crimes against the public interest , and perpetrators can be threatened with punishment in the form of suffering or torture.
History of Criminal Law in Indonesia
Before the arrival of the Dutch to the Nusanta ra , adat criminal law had been in effect in the kingdoms of the archipelago.
During the Dutch colonial period ( Dutch Indies) initially for the Indonesian people applied adat criminal law and Wetboek van Strafrecht voor de Europeanen on 1 January 1867 still applied for Europeans. It was on 1 January 1873, Wetboek van Strafrecht came into effect for Indonesians and foreign easterners.
Further more, Wetboek van Strafrecht carried out nat ional unification in the Netherlands, with new regulations starting 1 September 1886. Based on the announcement of th e King of the Netherlands on 15 October 191 5. Si nce then , the Dutc h East Indies region has had Wetboek van Strafrecht voor Nederlandsch Indie 1915, which is a change and adjustments from Wetboek van Strafrecht 1881 were declared to apply through out the Dutc h East Indies starting 1 January 1918.
During the Japanese colonial era, the Wetboek Strafrecht voor Nederlandsch Indie 1915 remained in effect based on the provisions of article 3 of Osamu Seirei Number 1 of 1942.
Based on articleIl of the Transitional Regulations of the Indonesia Constitution 1945 (UUD 1945), the provisions in Wetboek van Strafrecht voor Nederlandsch - lndie 1915 (WVS) remain in effect, and subsequently changes and revocations were made to several articles in the Wetboek va n Starfrecht voor Nede rlandsch Indie and henceforth referred to as th e Indonesia Criminal Code ( KUHP) is based on Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning Criminal Law Regulations.
Currently, Indonesia has a new Criminal Code and no longe r uses the colonial legacy Criminal Code as regulated in Act No. 01/2023, in addition there are updates to criminal procedural law which provide several more modern criminal procedural law regulations as regulted in Act No. 20/2025 concerning the Criminal Procedural Code and Act No. 1/2026 concerning criminal adjustments.
