Restitution Penalty Enforcement in Human Trafficking Criminal Cases

Abstract

The implementation of restitution provided for victims of human trafficking still could not give the victims their rights. Most of them had no idea about restitution rights, even if they know about it, their requests for restitution were often rejected in the trial. In the Criminal Procedure Code, defendants' rights are above the rights of witnesses and victims. Hence, in every "due process", defendants have to be able to defend himself. As the result, victims and witnesses will be less-prioritized. This research employed normative legal method to obtain secondary data in the forms of primary, secondary and tertiary legal materials. Primary data supported the secondary data. It is found forced asset confiscation from the defendants of human trafficking can proceed starting from the investigation process. The confiscation can only be carried out by an investigator after obtaining a permit from the Chairman of the local District Court. However, in urgent situations, investigators may act on their own when it is not possible to obtain a permit in advance. After the asset confiscation is carried out, investigators are obliged to report to the Head of the District Court to obtain approval for the confiscation process. The legal basis for the confiscation is Article 1 point 16 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that confiscation is an act done by investigators to take over and or keep under control all movable or immovable, tangible or intangible objects as means of proof in investigation, prosecution and trial. When evidences have been collected, confiscation is the follow-up action to the investigation process.