Criminal Liability Of Foreign National Children Within Indonesia's Juvenile Justice System Framework

I Putu Mega  Marantika; I Nyoman Gede Sugiartha; I Wayan  Rideng

doi:10.38142/pjlel.v4i2.1808

Authors

I Putu Mega Marantika Warmadewa University
I Nyoman Gede Sugiartha Warmadewa University, Indonesia
I Wayan Rideng Warmadewa University, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.38142/pjlel.v4i2.1808

Keywords:

Foreign National Children, Juvenile Justice System, Criminal Liability, Child Legal Protection

Abstract

This article examines the criminal liability of foreign national children within Indonesia's juvenile justice system, focusing on legal regulation and judicial application in criminal proceedings involving children of foreign nationality. The study addresses the core issue of how Indonesian positive law applies criminal responsibility to foreign national children while ensuring equal legal protection and child-centered justice. The Research employs a normative legal method, drawing on statutory, conceptual, and case approaches, with court decisions as the primary reference for examining judicial practices. The findings reveal that Indonesian law applies the principle of territoriality consistently, allowing foreign national children to be held criminally responsible under the same legal framework as Indonesian children, while prioritizing rehabilitative measures and restorative justice principles. The analysis also demonstrates that judicial authorities emphasize child protection, proportional sanctions, and the best interests of the child in sentencing decisions involving foreign national children. These findings indicate that the juvenile justice system in Indonesia has accommodated foreign national children as legal subjects without discrimination based on nationality. The study concludes that although the existing legal framework sufficiently supports equal treatment and child protection, further institutional coordination and policy refinement are necessary to strengthen rehabilitation-oriented justice for foreign national children within the juvenile justice system

References

Čamdžićová, S. (2019) “Posílení role nezletilého v řízeních péče soudu o nezletilé,” Časopis pro právní vědu a praxi, 27(2), p. 243. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5817/CPVP2019-2-5.

Duca, R. (2012) "Lampedusa humanitarian emergency in 2011: the case of unaccompanied migrant minors," Journal of Financial Crime, 19(3), pp. 279–290. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/13590791211243129.

Forde, L. (2022) "The role of the courts in protecting children's rights in the context of police questioning in Ireland and New Zealand," The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 61(2), pp. 240–260. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12472.

Fridayani, H.D. and Putri, D.D.P. (2023) "Sounding the Justice for Child: Does Restorative Justice Matter?," Journal of Law and Legal Reform, 4(3), pp. 303–324. Available at: https://doi.org/10.15294/jllr.v4i3.68106.

Golonka, A.D. (2021) "Alcohol-related crime or no crime because of the perpetrator's (factual) insanity?” Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 11(6(S)), pp. S146–S163. Available at: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1203.

Hughes, N. et al. (2020) “Ensuring the rights of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities within child justice systems,” The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 4(2), pp. 163–166. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30401-8.

Kellman, E. (2015) “Rawls, John (1921–2002),” in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier, pp. 913–918. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.61265-5.

Kramar, S.A. and Klarić, I.M. (2017) “The Main Challenges of Implementing the Procedural Rights of the Child in the Family Justice Systems of Some Southeast European Countries,” in The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Brill | Nijhoff, pp. 247–271. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004295056_015.

Le, T.N. (2016) “Rights of Child Victims and Child Witnesses in Criminal Justice in Viet Nam,” Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law, 17(1), pp. 88–101. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-01701007.

Luhamaa, K., Markina, A. and Paron, K. (2024) “Child Vulnerability Within the Legal System,” in, pp. 153–172. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61333-3_9.

Maxey, W. et al. (2025) “Discrepancy between policy and practice: a case study on hegemony within an Indonesian juvenile correctional center (LPKA),” Children and Youth Services Review, 177, p. 108469. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108469.

Pérez Salom, R. (2023) “El principio de no devolución en el caso de los menores no acompañados solicitan-tes de asilo: la posición del Comité de los Derechos del Niño (CDN),” Cuadernos Electrónicos de Filosofía del Derecho, (49), pp. 328–338. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7203/CEFD.49.26205.

Putro, W.D. and Bedner, A.W. (2023) “Ecological Sustainability from a Legal Philosophy Perspective,” Journal of Indonesian Legal Studies, 8(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.15294/jils.v8i2.71127.

Rap, S.E. and Zlotnik, D. (2018) “The Right to Legal and Other Appropriate Assistance for Child Suspects and Accused,” European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 26(2), pp. 110–131. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718174-02602004.

Rochaeti, N. and Pujiyono, P. (2018) “Implementation Study of Restorative Justice for Juvenile Criminal Justice System by Customary Court in Mainland Sulawesi,” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 156, p. 012044. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/156/1/012044.

Wahyudi, S. et al. (2025) “Recomposing the Handover and Return to Parents in the Juvenile Justice System in Indonesia: Dilemma between Best Interest of the Juvenile and Legal Shadow,” Volksgeist: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum dan Konstitusi, pp. 263–284. Available at: https://doi.org/10.24090/volksgeist.v8i1.13130.

Záhora, J. (2025) “PROCESNÉ ZÁRUKY PRE DETI, KTORÉ SÚ PODOZRIVÝMI ALEBO OBVINENÝMI V TRESTNOM KONANÍ,” STUDIA IURIDICA Cassoviensia, 13(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.33542/SIC2025-1-15.