The Legal Effectiveness of Juvenile Diversion: A Study of the Indonesian Juvenile Justice System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15575/kh.v7i2.44162Keywords:
Diversion, juvenile justice, legal effectiveness, restorative justiceAbstract
This study aims to evaluate the legal effectiveness of diversion mechanisms within Indonesia’s juvenile justice system, particularly in relation to the state’s commitment to restorative justice principles. Although a comprehensive legal framework is in place—namely Law No. 11 of 2012 and Supreme Court Regulation (PERMA) No. 4 of 2014 (Peraturan Mahkamah Agung)—the implementation of diversion remains limited, with only 14.1% of juvenile cases resolved through this mechanism. This gap reveals a significant disconnect between legal norms and practical enforcement. The study employs a normative-qualitative legal research method, utilizing document analysis of statutory regulations and institutional reports from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), the Directorate General of Corrections, as well as secondary sources including academic literature, media coverage, and official documentation. Thematic analysis was applied to identify structural, cultural, and institutional barriers in the implementation of diversion. The findings highlight three major issues: (1) regional disparities in the application of diversion, especially between urban centers and disadvantaged (3T) areas; (2) structural obstacles, including a shortage of trained personnel, lack of proper mediation facilities, and weak interagency coordination; and (3) the persistence of a retributive and legalistic legal culture among both law enforcement officials and the general public, which impedes the acceptance of restorative approaches. This study makes a significant contribution to the discourse on juvenile justice reform by emphasizing the need for systemic support and cross-sectoral collaboration to ensure the effective realization of diversion. Policy implications include the strengthening of training programs, infrastructure development, and public legal education. The originality of this research lies in its integrative evaluative framework, which combines legal, institutional, and socio-cultural analysis, offering a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of diversion in Indonesia.
References
Amanda, P. K., Tieken, S., Davies, S. G., & Kusumaningrum, S. (2019). The Juvenile Courts and Children’s Rights. In The Politics of Court Reform (pp. 267–286). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108636131.012
Aminudin, M. (2021). Dua Kali Diversi Gagal, Kasus Penganiayaan Remaja Putri di Malang Disidangkan. Detik.Com.
Arjuna, M. (2024). Kepala Bapas Kelas II Kutacane Keluhkan Minimnya Perhatian Pemerintah Terkait Sarana dan Prasarana. Inews.Id.
Christian, I. (2023). LPSK tolak permohonan perlindungan anak berkonflik hukum AG. Alinea.Id.
Collins, T. M., & Wright, L. H. V. (2022). The challenges for children’s rights in international child protection: Opportunities for transformation. World Development, 159, 106032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106032
Cuesta, J., Madrigal, L., & Skoufias, E. (2018). Poverty, disputes, and access to justice in two Indonesian provinces. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 21(1), 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2017.1283890
Darmawati, G. A. B. (2021). Laporan Pelaksanaan SPPA Tahun 2020. Kementerian Pemberdayaan Perempuan Dan Perlindungan Anak.
Davies, S. G., & Robson, J. (2016). Juvenile (In)justice: Children in Conflict with the Law in Indonesia. Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law, 17(1), 119–147. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-01701009
Díaz Gude, A., & Navarro Papic, I. (2020). Restorative justice and legal culture. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 20(1), 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895818796549
Ditjen Pemasyarakatan Kemenkumham. (2024). Laporan Akuntabilitas Kinerja Direktorat Jenderal Pemasyarakatan 2023. Direktorat Jenderal Pemasyarakatan Kemenkumham RI.
Fridayani, H. D., & Putri, D. D. P. (2023). Sounding the Justice for Child: Does Restorative Justice Matters? Journal of Law and Legal Reform, 4(3), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.15294/jllr.v4i3.68106
Friedman, L. M. (1984). American Law: An Introduction New York. WW Norton & Co, hlm.
Hadiputra, A., Maskur, M. A., Arifin, R., Amrullah, I., & Maajid, H. (2024). Juvenile Justice in Comparative Perspective: A Study of Indonesian State Law and Islamic Law. Contemporary Issues on Interfaith Law and Society, 3(2), 203–228. https://doi.org/10.15294/ciils.v3i2.79011
Hamzani, A. I., Widyastuti, T. V., Khasanah, N., & Mohd Rusli, M. H. (2024). Implementation approach in legal research. International Journal of Advances in Applied Sciences, 13(2), 380. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijaas.v13.i2.pp380-388
Harve, R., Kalo, S., Syahrin, A., & Ediwarman. (2021). Synchronization of Laws and Application of Diversion in Children Criminal Laws in Conflict. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Iqbal, M. (2024). Proses Diversi Kasus Bullying di Binus School Serpong Gagal, Keluarga Korban Pilih Dilanjutkan ke Proses Hukum. Tempo.Co.
Jacelon, C. S., & O’Dell, K. K. (2005). Analyzing qualitative data. Urologic Nursing, 25(3), 217–220.
Karsudin, K., & Cahyaningtyas, I. (2021). Government Policy on Child Crime Through the Concept of Diversion as a Solution Amid the Spread of Covid-19. Lex Scientia Law Review, 5(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.15294/lesrev.v5i2.49914
Kementerian PPA. (2024). SIMFONI PPA (Sistem Informasi Online Perlindungan Perempuan dan Anak). Kementerian Pemberdayaan Perempuan Dan Perlindungan Anak.
KPAI. (2025). Laporan tahunan KPAI, Jalan terjal Perlindungan Anak: Ancaman Serius Generasi Emas Indonesia. Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia (KPAI).
Krisdamarjati, Y. A. (2023). Meningkatnya Kasus Anak Berkonflik Hukum, Alarm bagi Masyarakat dan Negara. Kompas.Id.
Lamchek, J. (2019). Arresting a due process revolution. In Criminal Legalities in the Global South (pp. 166–181). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429459764-14
Liefaard, T. (2015). Juvenile justice from an international children’s rights perspective Ton Liefaard. In Routledge International Handbook of Children’s Rights Studies (pp. 234–256).
Lodja, I. (2022). Diversi Gagal, Kasus Siswa Aniaya Guru di Kupang Dilanjutkan. Kata NTT (Berita Nusa Tenggara Timur).
Mahkamah Agung RI. (2014). Peraturan Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia Nomor 4 Tahun 2014 Tentang Pedoman Pelaksanaan Diversi dalam Sistem Peradilan Pidana Anak. Mahkamah Agung RI.
Maxwell, J. (2009). Designing a Qualitative Study. In The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods (Vol. 2, pp. 214–253). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483348858.n7
Montgomery, H. (2022). Children’s Rights and Child Prostitution: Critical Reflections on Thailand in the 1990s and Beyond. In International child protection: Towards politics and participation (pp. 147–165). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78763-9_7
Mubarak, Z. (2022). Diversi Gagal, Orangtua Korban Tolak Perdamaian, Kasus Pengeroyokan Anak oleh 11 Remaja Disidangkan. Trubun News.
Murni, S. (2020). The Marriage Age Limit According to Indonesian Law No. 16, 2019 as Effort to Child Protection. Proceedings of the International Conference on Law, Economics and Health (ICLEH 2020), 222–230. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.200513.047
Noviana, L., Santoso, L., & Puspita, M. (2024). Interpreting Legal Rights: Disparities in Judicial Treatment of Children Born Out of Wedlock in East Java, Indonesia. Lex Scientia Law Review, 8(1), 321–354. https://doi.org/10.15294/lslr.v8i1.4606
Purba, R. (2025). PK Bapas se Jabar Ikuti Peningkatan Kompetensi UU KUHP Baru. Zona Bandung.
Rahman, F. (2019). Contextualizing Restorative Justice Through Diversion Mechanism: A Study of Indonesia Juvenile Justice System. Indonesia Law Review, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.15742/ilrev.v9n3.584
Ropei, A. (2020). The Resolution Of Criminal Cases Through A Restorative Justice Approach in Islamic Law Perspective. Jurnal Hukum Islam, 18(2), 293–312. https://doi.org/10.28918/jhi.v18i2.2936
Setiawan, H. H., Wardianti, A., & Irmayani, N. R. (2023). The Practice of Diversion for Perpetrators of Child Crimes in Indonesia. In Restorative Justice and Practices in the 21st Century (pp. 205–224). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-6145-7.ch009
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Sucianti, T., & Syihabuddin. (2024). Proses Beracara Terhadap Anak yang Berkonflik dengan Hukum di Pengadilan Negeri Bale Bandung. KEADILAN : Jurnal Penelitian Hukum Dan Peradilan, 2(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.62565/keadilan.v2i1.19
Sukardi, S., & Purnama, H. R. (2022). Restorative Justice Principles in Law Enforcement and Democracy in Indonesia. Journal of Indonesian Legal Studies, 7(1), 155–190. https://doi.org/10.15294/jils.v7i1.53057
Sumardiana, B., Pujiyono, P., & Cahyaningtyas, I. (2024). Reforming Justice: Unpacking the Pre-Judication and Post-Judicate Dynamics of the Sarpin Case in Law and Practice in Indonesia. Lex Scientia Law Review, 8(2), 1089–1116. https://doi.org/10.15294/lslr.v8i2.10744
Triasmono, H., & Ruslie, A. S. (2024). Comparison between Customary Legal Systems and Modern Legal Systems in the Context of Globalization. International Journal of Law and Society, 3(1), 24–33. https://doi.org/10.59683/ijls.v3i1.76
Umbreit, M., & Hansen, T. (2017). VICTIM-OFFENDER MEDIATION: A humanistic approach. In The Mediation Handbook: Research, Theory, and Practice (pp. 97–104). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315648330-11
Waspada Id. (2023). PK Bapas Banda Aceh Upaya Diversi Kasus Penganiayaan Anak. Waspada Id.
Yunita, R. (2018). Diversion and Local Wisdom in Constructivism Paradigm (Study on The Implementation of Diversionat Konawe of Southeast Sulawesi). IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 175, 012143. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/175/1/012143
Zubaedah, S., Tira, A., & Almusawir, A. (2023). Implementation of Diversion on Examining the Process of Children in Conflict with the Law. Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun, 11(1), 221. https://doi.org/10.26811/peuradeun.v11i1.777
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Daud Rismana, Ali Maskur, Rifi Maria Laila Fitri Permonoputri, Hariyanto Hariyanto, Hajar Salamah Salsabila Hariz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).