UGM legal expert says asset-forfeiture law must strengthen Indonesia’s anti-corruption drive

Indonesia’s proposed asset-forfeiture law could be passed by December 2026, but legal expert Oce Madril says the timing matters less than the substance of the legislation.

The bill has entered the 2026 priority National Legislation Programme, making passage procedurally possible this year, according to Oce. Parliamentary Commission III has also held intensive discussions with academics and legal practitioners. The central challenge, he says, is ensuring that the law complies with the Constitution and meets public expectations.

Oce, a legal expert at Gadjah Mada University and executive director of the Association for the Study of Government and Anti-Corruption Law, said Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution protects property rights. That protection should not extend to wealth obtained illegally, he said, arguing that the state needs a firm legal basis to pursue proceeds of crime.

He listed five critical issues for lawmakers. The definition of assets must clearly cover property derived from criminal acts, so lawfully acquired wealth is not wrongly seized. The bill should combine conviction-based forfeiture with a narrowly limited non-conviction-based mechanism for cases in which a suspect dies, flees or cannot be located. It should also clearly divide responsibilities among the police, prosecutors, the Corruption Eradication Commission and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, from tracing assets through to seizure.

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However, the state’s protection of property does not apply to wealth obtained illegally. This is where the importance of the asset-forfeiture bill lies, so that the state has a strong legal basis to pursue wealth derived from criminal acts.