Indonesia's highest court says soldiers accused of ordinary crimes belong in civilian courts

Indonesia's Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the country's 1997 Military Justice Law is conditionally unconstitutional: unless parliament reforms it by October 2028, soldiers accused of ordinary crimes under the civilian criminal code must be tried in civilian courts, not military ones. Human Rights Watch, which welcomed the ruling on October 28, notes that under the current law civilian police cannot even investigate military personnel in most cases. The judgment rests on the constitution's guarantees of an independent judiciary and equality before the law — the principle that a uniform changes your duties, not your accountability. Parliament now has two years to write the reform.

SDG 16 · Peace, justice and strong institutions — Mechanism: legal ruling