Jakarta, Jan. 30 -- Deputy Minister of Law Edward Hiariej stated that Indonesia's new Criminal Code aims to shift the country's criminal law paradigm toward corrective, restorative, and rehabilitative justice.

He noted that public perception of criminal law still largely emphasizes imposing the harshest punishments on offenders.

"That is an outdated paradigm, a remnant from the era of Hammurabi," he remarked during a webinar on Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code on Thursday.

Hiariej affirmed that this longstanding paradigm has significantly influenced the character of Indonesian society.

In contrast, many other countries have moved away from treating criminal law solely as lex talionis , or the law of retaliation, which...