Indonesia's Constitutional Court Clarifies Rules for Suspending Regional Heads

Five-year threshold clarified

Chief Justice Suhartoyo read decision 365/PUU-XXIV/2026 in the case brought by legal activist Terence Cameron. The petition challenged provisions of Law No. 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government, including the rules governing temporary dismissal in criminal cases.

The court revised Article 83, paragraph 1, replacing the wording "at least five years" with "punished with imprisonment for five years or more." The change concerns the penalty an offense carries, rather than a sentence already imposed on an official.

The justices said the previous wording could be interpreted as covering only offenses with an explicit minimum prison term of five years. That interpretation would leave out other serious crimes punishable by five years or more simply because they have no specified minimum sentence.

Under the new Criminal Code, Law No. 1 of 2023, only a few offenses would meet that narrow reading, the court found. It cited human smuggling under Article 457, gross human rights violations under Articles 598 and 599, and terrorism under Article 600. Other serious offenses carrying a maximum prison term of five years or more would wrongly fall outside the temporary-dismissal rule.

Exceptions for negligence and political offenses

The ruling also excludes negligence offenses and political crimes from the grounds for temporarily dismissing a regional head or deputy regional head without a proposal from the regional legislature, known as the DPRD.

The political-crime exception has a specific scope: it covers conduct made criminal under the law solely because the person holds political views different from those of the ruling regime.

The court drew on its earlier decision 71/PUU-XIV/2016 concerning the regional election law. That decision established that crimes punishable by five years or more bar a person from standing as a regional-head candidate, with exceptions for negligence and political crimes. The justices said the same standard should govern the temporary dismissal of officials already in office.

Cameron described the new ruling as a safeguard against the central government using criminal proceedings against regional heads because of their differing political views.

Court registration sets the effective date

The court also revised Article 83, paragraph 2. For a regional head who becomes a defendant, temporary dismissal takes effect on the date the criminal case is entered in the court's case register.

The justices said using that date would provide legal certainty about the official's status. They identified registration as the reference point for the start of the court's administrative handling of the criminal case.

Remaining requests rejected

The MK declared the relevant Article 83 provisions conditionally unconstitutional, meaning their binding force depends on their being understood in accordance with the court's interpretation.

The court rejected the rest of Cameron's requests, including his challenge to the Elucidation of Article 78, paragraph (2), letter b. It also ordered publication of the ruling in the Republic of Indonesia's State Gazette, or Berita Negara.