Normative case study reveals lack of public participation in TNI law revision, pointing to risks of human rights violations and eroded accountability.
The revision of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Law is under intense scrutiny for its closed process and lack of meaningful public participation. This abstract critically analyzes how such legislative practices create an "illusion of participation," eroding the foundations of constitutional democracy. This normative-empirical case study analyzes legal documents, credible media reports, and official statements from institutions like Universitas Gadjah Mada, the National Commission on Human Rights, and Amnesty International. Findings reveal significant procedural flaws, notably the absence of a publicly accessible academic draft and minimal public consultation, creating a crisis of legal legitimacy. Analysis of problematic articles (Article 3, Article 47, Article 53, Article 65, and Article 74) concerning the expansion of military roles, accountability, and retirement age suggests a potential return of the military's dual-function doctrine (Dwifungsi ABRI) and weaker security sector accountability. Cumulative impacts include the erosion of checks and balances, the degradation of citizens from sovereign subjects to policy objects, and an increased risk of human rights violations. This study recommends reinforcing meaningful participation, strengthening legislative oversight, and implementing legal reforms with clear sanctions. These measures are crucial to enhance accountability, ensure a substantive democracy, and protect constitutional integrity.
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Ahmadi et al. (2025) studied this question.