Reorientation of the Principle of Legality in the Handling of Corruption Offences in Indonesia

The reorientation of the principle of legality in the handling of corruption offences in Indonesia is essential to challenge normative formalism. This study aims to conduct an in-depth analysis of how the principle of legality can be reoriented within the framework of handling corruption offences in Indonesia. This study employs a legal-normative approach enriched with a socio-legal design and critical qualitative analysis to examine the reorientation of the principle of legality in the handling of corruption offences. The results confirm that upholding the principle of legality in its formalistic guise risks turning the law into a covert protector of modern corruption; consequently, a reorientation towards substantive and progressive legality is no longer an option but an epistemological and practical necessity within Indonesia’s criminal law system. The expansion of the meaning of unlawful acts and the interpretative boldness of judges can serve as emancipatory tools to break through normative deadlocks, without strict methodological boundaries, this risks giving rise to over-criminalisation and the erosion of legal legitimacy; thus, a new construct is required in the form of calibrated legality, flexible in addressing the complexities of corruption, yet still governed by the principles of proportionality, rationality, and accountability. The novelty of this study lies in a paradigm shift from legality as a bastion of certainty to legality as a measurable instrument of justice, which theoretically challenges the dominance of legal positivism and, practically, encourages the formation of more progressive yet standardised interpretative guidelines.