Reconstruction of Legal Protection for Victims of Forced Labor in Employment Relations Based on Pancasila Justice

Abstract

This study aims to reconstruct the legal protection of victims of forced labor within employment relationships on the basis of Pancasila justice. Although the Constitution, Law Number 39 of 1999 on Human Rights, the Manpower Law as amended by the Job Creation Law, Law Number 21 of 2007 on the Eradication of Trafficking in Persons, and the new Criminal Code (Law Number 1 of 2023) collectively prohibit slavery and exploitation, none of these instruments provide an operational definition of forced labor in ordinary employment relations nor a comprehensive recovery mechanism for its victims. A normative juridical approach was employed, combining statutory, conceptual, and philosophical analyzes with International Labor Organization Conventions No. 29 and No. 105. The findings reveal a normative vacuum and fragmented victim protection that emphasizes punishment of perpetrators while neglecting restitution, rehabilitation, and reintegration of victims. It is concluded that a reconstruction grounded in the second and fifth principles of Pancasila is required, encompassing a statutory definition of forced labor, an integrated victim-recovery institution, and restorative-restitutive remedies that affirm human dignity and social justice.