Legal Review of the Abolition of Substitute Imprisonment and the Institutionalization of a Victim Trust Fund as an Effort to Ensure the Absolute Fulfillment of Restitution for Human Trafficking Victims

Abstract

Restitution is a fundamental right of victims of the crime of human trafficking (TPPO) to obtain recovery for the material and immaterial losses they have suffered. However, in judicial practice in Indonesia, the fulfillment of restitution rights often reaches a dead end when perpetrators are unable to pay, which then results in the imposition of substitute imprisonment as a replacement for fines. This mechanism actually undermines the sense of justice because imprisonment provides no compensation whatsoever to victims and instead burdens the state with maintaining perpetrators in correctional institutions, while victims’ recovery rights are systematically neglected. This study examines the urgency of abolishing substitute imprisonment in human trafficking cases and proposes the institutionalization of a Victim Trust Fund as an innovative alternative mechanism. Using a normative legal research method, this article analyzes the disconnect between current criminal policies and the fulfillment of victims’ rights. The results show that substitute imprisonment is counterproductive to the principle of victim protection, making legal reform necessary to transfer the burden of restitution payments to a nationally managed compensation fund specifically designated for crime victims. Through the institutionalization of a Victim Trust Fund, the state assumes proactive responsibility for advancing restitution payments to human trafficking victims, with funding sourced from confiscated criminal assets, fines derived from criminal activities, and other contributions. This transformation shifts the legal paradigm from merely inflicting suffering on offenders to achieving substantive justice that prioritizes the restoration of victims’ dignity and humanity. This reconstruction is expected to become a precedent for a more humane and victim-oriented legal policy in the future.