Legal Certainty Of Criminal Liability Following The Imposition Of The Police Code Of Ethics Sanctions: A Case Study Of Affan Kurniawan

Abstract

The death of Affan Kurniawan, who was run over by a Brimob tactical vehicle during a demonstration in August 2025, has sparked serious controversy regarding the accountability of law enforcement officials in Indonesia. The handling of the case, which prioritized internal mechanisms through ethical code proceedings without clarity on criminal judicial processes, raises fundamental questions about the consistency of the rule of law and legal certainty. This study aims to evaluate the application of ethical sanctions and to analyze the legal certainty of criminal liability following the imposition of such sanctions from the perspectives of the rechtsstaat concept and the theory of legal certainty. This research employs a normative juridical method with statutory, case and conceptual approaches. Primary legal materials analyzed include the 1945 Constitution, the Criminal Code, Law No. 2 of 2002, Law No. 39 of 1999, Police Regulation No. 7 of 2022 and independent investigative reports, while secondary materials are obtained from various academic literatures. The findings indicate that the imposition of ethical sanctions on seven Brimob personnel is administrative-internal in nature and does not extinguish the obligation for criminal accountability. However, normative ambiguity and procedural inconsistencies were identified, causing the criminal justice process to stall, reflecting institutional dominance that threatens the principle of supremacy of law. This study concludes that the imposition of ethical sanctions does not automatically eliminate criminal liability and the state is obliged to ensure transparent general judicial proceedings. Urgent regulatory reform governing the coordination between ethical and criminal mechanisms is necessary to realize legal certainty and equality before the law.