Military v. civilian court jurisdiction in Indonesia

This article in the November/December 2025 issue of the International Journal of Management Studies and Social Science Research addresses the tension between the civilian and military court systems in Indonesia for offenses committed by military personnel. Excerpt:

Article 65 paragraph (2) of the TNI Law states that TNI soldiers are subject to military justice if they commit violations of military law, while for general crimes, the resolution is carried out in accordance with statutory regulations. This norm emphasizes that not all actions of soldiers fall under military jurisdiction, so the distinction depends on the type of crime committed. In practice, the absolute competence of general courts over general crimes committed by TNI soldiers has not been fully implemented. This occurs because Law No. 31 of 1997 has not been revised and still gives broad jurisdiction to military courts. This conflict of norms gives rise to dualism which has an impact on the difficulty of determining the appropriate forum when soldiers commit general crimes.

The authors conclude:

The Absolute Competence of Military Courts Over Criminal Acts by TNI Soldiers Has Not Been Fully Implemented The absolute competence of general courts over general crimes committed by TNI soldiers has not been fully implemented. This is because Law No. 31 of 1997 has not been revised and still grants broad jurisdiction to military courts. This conflicting norm has given rise to a dualism that makes it difficult to determine the appropriate forum when soldiers commit general crimes. The implementation of Article 65 paragraph (2) of the TNI Law has not yet fully proceeded as expected. Various normative, institutional, technical, and cultural obstacles still hinder the transfer of authority for examining general crimes by TNI personnel to general courts. Furthermore, the lack of regulatory harmonization and poor inter-institutional coordination have reinforced the status quo, thus preventing significant change in the military criminal justice system.Taking these findings into account, this study believes that strategic regulatory, institutional, and operational measures are necessary to optimally achieve the objectives of legal reform.