Guarding the Law or Risking Abuse? the Implications of the New RUU Polri

Indonesia’s government and House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR) are continuing to work on the planned revision to Law No. 2 of 2002 (“Law 2/2002”) on the National Police Force of the Republic of Indonesia (Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia – “Polri”) through the issuance of the Draft Amendment on the Third Amendment to Law 2/2002 (“Draft Amendment”), which encompasses 16 amended articles and two additional articles. This controversial Draft Amendment, which has generated much criticism among the Indonesian public, contains various updated provisions that expand the overall authorities of Polri[1] and that may ultimately lead to the overlapping of authorities between certain officials, as well as overlap with a number of other related Regulations.