Shifting The Paradigm of Punishment for the Crime of Human Trafficking from Retributive Justice Toward Restorative Justice for Victims

Abstract

The Crime of Human Trafficking (TPPO) is a crime against humanity that degrades the dignity of victims through various forms of exploitation and modern slavery. To date, law enforcement in human trafficking cases in Indonesia has remained dominated by a retributive punishment paradigm centered on the imprisonment of offenders (offender-oriented) and often neglects aspects of victim recovery. The failure to fulfill victims’ restitution rights, exacerbated by legal loopholes whereby compensation obligations can be substituted with subsidiary imprisonment, has rendered justice for victims merely a victory on paper. This Research a normative legal research method using both a statutory approach and a conceptual approach to analyze the urgency of shifting this punishment paradigm. The findings indicate that the enactment of the New Criminal Code (KUHP) provides strong legitimacy for the implementation of restorative justice and the theory of Dignified Justice, which places victims at the center of the justice system (victim-oriented justice). Optimizing the fulfillment of restitution rights is absolutely necessary through progressive asset tracing and asset forfeiture authority from the investigation stage onward. Furthermore, the state needs to establish a Trust Fund (Victim Assistance Fund) mechanism to advance restitution payments when offenders are unable to pay, followed by the state's subrogation rights against the offender’s assets. This transformation from retributive to restorative justice is crucial so that criminal law does not merely function as a punitive tool but serves as a genuine healing instrument that restores victims’ dignity.