Judges’ Consideration on Criminal Law Imposition in Abortion Case in the Decisions Number 252/Pid.B/2012/PN.Plp and Number 124/Pid.Sus/2014/PN.Liw

The legislation regarding abortion is governed by Act Number 36 of 2009 on Health. According to Article 194 of the Health Act, individuals who intentionally perform abortions outside of the regulations mentioned in Article 75, paragraph (2) can be punished with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum fine of 1,000,000,000 rupiahs. According to the two decisions, there is a discrepancy in the decision made by the panel of judges. In decision No. 252/Pid.B/2012/PN.Plp, it is clarified that the judge relies on the Indonesian Penal Code as the foundation for resolving a case. The judge invoked the Health Act to resolve the identical issue pertaining to the unlawful act of abortion. The research methodology employed in this study is the Yuridis Normative research approach. The judges' analysis of the application of criminal law laws to the offense of abortion is discussed in Decision No. 252/Pid.B/2012/PN.Plp and Decision Number 124/Ped.Sus/2014/PN.Liw. Based on the investigation results, it is indicated that the judge's decision to terminate a case is influenced by Judgment Number 252/Pid.B/2012/PN.Plp and Judgement No. 124/Sus/2014/PN-Liw. In this context, the judge considers the indictment presented by the Prosecutor-General. In cases where an alternative charge is presented, the judge focuses on establishing the provisions of criminal law based on the prosecutor's accusation, without conducting an extensive investigation. Consequently, the judge determines that it is more appropriate to apply the law, particularly in cases of criminal abortion, which is explicitly regulated in the Health Act.