Reconstructing the Concept of Criminal Responsibility Capacity: Neurocriminology in Indonesia’s National Criminal Code: Law No. 1 of 2023 in Conjunction with Law No. 1 of 2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37893/abioso.v17i2.1394Keywords:
Capacity for Criminal Responsibility, Neurocriminology, Progressive Legal Theory, Toerekeningsvatbaarheid, Strict LiabilityAbstract
Recent developments in neurocriminology pose significant epistemological challenges to the legal construction of the capacity for criminal responsibility (toerekeningsvatbaarheid) under Indonesia’s National Criminal Code (Law No. 1 of 2023 in conjunction with Law No. 1 of 2026). Although Articles 38–39 of the National Criminal Code represent an advancement over Article 44 of the Wetboek van Strafrecht (WvS), their legal construction continues to rely on conventional clinical-psychiatric diagnostic parameters that have yet to adequately accommodate scientifically established variations in neurological capacity. Drawing on Progressive Legal Theory (Satjipto Rahardjo) as the grand theory and overarching philosophical framework, and the Theory of Criminal Responsibility (toerekeningsvatbaarheid, as developed by Van Hamel, Pompe, and Sudarto) as the middle-range/applied theory and normative-doctrinal analytical framework, supported by Neurocriminology (Glenn and Raine) and Graded Responsibility (Hirstein) as supplementary analytical instruments, this normative legal study employs statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches to identify three doctrinal inadequacies: the exclusive reliance on Visum et Repertum Psikiatrikum (VeRP) as the sole assessment instrument; the failure to accommodate subclinical neurological impairments; and the structural conflict between the strict liability provisions of Law No. 1 of 2026 and the principle of geen straf zonder schuld enshrined in Article 36(1) of the National Criminal Code. This article proposes a reconstruction based on the Neuro-Contextual Capacity Model, comprising three elements: the expansion of the criteria for assessing the capacity for criminal responsibility, the strengthening of the double-track system through neurological parameters, and the establishment of constitutional limits on strict liability for offenders with measurable neurological impairments.
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