Researcher and student activists challenge new Police Law at Constitutional Court

A researcher and student activists have formally challenged Indonesia's recently passed Law on the National Police at the Constitutional Court. The legal action targets Law Number 5 of 2026, which amends the 2002 law governing the police force and was enacted on June 9.

The petitioners, identified as Zulfikar Putra Utama, a researcher at the Indonesian Parliamentary Center, and Muhammad Ezra Suhaeri, student senate chair at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, argue that the law's formation process violated constitutional requirements. Their petition, registered under case number 251/PUU-XXIV/2026, contends that the law was created without proper adherence to the principles of good lawmaking, including transparency, utility, effectiveness, and public participation.

According to the petitioners, the legislative process for the Police Law allegedly bypassed crucial stages, such as harmonization, consolidation, and finalization of concepts, which are mandated by the House of Representatives' standing orders. They assert that harmonization is a vital filtering mechanism to ensure consistency with the national legal system and that its omission in this case undermines the integrity of the lawmaking procedure. The challenge seeks to address these procedural deficiencies, arguing they compromise the law's legitimacy.