Constitutional Court Rules Parents, Guardians Can Report Child Sexual Abuse

TheIndonesia.id - The Constitutional Court has ruled that parents, guardians, and attorneys of victims of child sexual abuse can file a report on a case, thus making Article 293 paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code (KUHP) deemed unconstitutional.

Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman read the verdict on Wednesday, December 15, and he said the article is against Indonesia’s Constitution and doesn’t have a binding legal force.

“The legal norms of Article 293 paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code is against the 1945 Constitution, and it doesn’t have legal binding force as long as it’s not interpreted as “complaint can be made not only by victims, but also by their parents, guardians, or attorneys,” Usman stated.

Prior to the verdict, Constitutional Court Justice Saldi Isra said in order to overcome the limitations of child victims of sexual abuse cases, the Court decided to allow parents, guardians, and attorneys to file a report – in addition to the report being made by the child victims themselves.

The decision partially granted appeal made by two students from the Christian University of Indonesia (UKI) Leonard Siahaan and Fransiscus Arian Sinaga.

In the judicial review submission, applicants requested the Court to review a phrase in Article 288 of the Criminal Code that reads “is not yet marriageable”, a phrase in Article 293 of the Criminal Code that reads “a minor”, and Article 293 paragraph (2) against the 1945 Constitution.

The Court granted the last application with the verdict.

Article 293 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code reads “any person who by gifts or promises of money and goods, abuse of dominance resulting from factual relationship or deceit, intentionally moves a minor of irreproachable conduct, whose minority he knows or reasonably should presume, to commit any obscene act with him or to tolerate such act, shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of five years”.

Furthermore, the next paragraph reads “a prosecution shall be instituted only upon complaint of the person against whom the crime has been committed”.

Applicants deemed it couldn’t guarantee protection for child sexual abuse victims and was against human rights set out by the Constitution.

“The arguments from petitioners on Article 293 paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code have created legal uncertainty as stated in Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution and have eliminated the right to protect oneself, family, honor, and dignity as stipulated in Article 28G paragraph (1) of the Constitution,” Justice Isra explained.

The Constitutional Court rejected the other two applications.