Juridical Analysis of the Application of Criminal Sanctions Against Recidivist Offenders in the Indonesian Criminal Justice System

Abstract

The background of this study stems from the high rate of recidivism in Indonesia, which serves as an indicator of the failure and ineffectiveness of criminal sanctions within the current criminal justice system. Empirically, the handling of recidivist offenders remains trapped in a formalistic and retributive legal approach, focusing primarily on imposing enhanced criminal penalties without evaluating the effectiveness of previous correctional programs or addressing the criminogenic factors underlying criminal behavior. The failure of this prison-centered approach has led to systemic anomalies, including prison overcrowding and the phenomenon of criminal contagion within correctional institutions. This study aims to identify and analyze: (1) the application of criminal sanctions against recidivist offenders; (2) the weaknesses in the implementation of criminal sanctions against recidivists within the Indonesian criminal justice system; and (3) the future direction of criminal sanction policies for recidivist offenders in Indonesia. The research employs statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. The data consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials collected through library research and analyzed using a prescriptive qualitative method. The findings reveal that: First, the current application of criminal sanctions against recidivists remains confined to retributive legal formalism, whereby sentence enhancement in the form of an additional one-third of the maximum penalty is applied mechanically without considering criminogenic factors or the effectiveness of previous rehabilitation efforts. Second, the weaknesses in addressing recidivism originate from imbalances within the three pillars of law enforcement: weaknesses in legal substance (rigid requirements for “similar” repeat offenses and prison-centric sanction formulations), weaknesses in legal structure (the absence of an integrated real-time criminal data system and overcrowding in correctional institutions), and weaknesses in legal culture (law enforcement pragmatism and social stigmatization). Third, the future implementation of criminal sanctions requires a transformation of legal civilization through harmonization with Law No. 1 of 2023 (the National Criminal Code) and Law no. 20 of 2025 (the New Criminal Procedure Code). This transformation can be realized through the extension of the recidivism limitation period, the implementation of alternative sanctions (community service and rehabilitation), asset recovery measures for economic crime recidivists, and structural modernization through the integration of a cross-sectoral biometric criminal record database to achieve legal certainty, justice, and social utility comprehensively.