Analysis of Criminal Punishment of Narcotics Dealers from A Positive Criminal Law Perspective

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the criminalization provisions for drug dealers in positive criminal law in Indonesia, examine judges' considerations in sentencing in criminal justice practice, and assess the relevance of these criminalization policies from the perspective of national criminal law reform. The research focuses on the dynamics between the repressive approach in Law Number 35 of 2009 concerning Narcotics and the more humanistic and proportional approach in Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the National Criminal Code. This study uses a normative legal research method with a statute approach, a case approach, and a conceptual approach. The data sources used include primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials, which are analyzed qualitatively to gain a comprehensive understanding of the criminalization policy for drug dealers. The research findings indicate that the criminalization of drug dealers in Indonesia is comprehensive yet tends to be repressive, with heavy and layered sanctions. In judicial practice, judges consider legal, sociological, and philosophical aspects while adhering to the principle of individualization of punishment, although a punitive approach still tends to dominate.