Diversi dalam Sistem Peradilan Pidana Anak sebagai Instrumen Keadilan Restoratif

Abstract

Law Number 11 of 2012 on the Juvenile Criminal Justice System makes diversion the principal legal mechanism for redirecting children's cases away from formal criminal proceedings. More than a decade after its enactment, diversion practice at the investigation, prosecution, and trial stages still falls short of the restorative justice values it was meant to realize. This article examines how diversion is regulated in Indonesia's juvenile criminal justice system, assesses how far its implementation reflects the substantive principles of restorative justice, and identifies the legal obstacles that constrain it, including the normative implications of the national Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure in force since January 2026. The study uses normative legal research with a statutory approach, a conceptual approach, and a limited comparative approach that draws on international juvenile justice standards. It finds that diversion is thoroughly regulated in procedural terms, yet in practice it often works as an administrative exit rather than a dialogic process in which victims take a meaningful part. The causes include inconsistent interpretation of the eligibility threshold, uneven discretion among law enforcement officials, weak victim and family participation, and the absence of guidance harmonizing the juvenile justice law with the newly effective Penal Code. The article concludes that diversion is formally sound but substantively underdeveloped as an instrument of restorative justice. Strengthening it requires synchronized inter-agency guidelines, structured victim participation, and closer normative alignment between the juvenile justice regime and Indonesia's reformed criminal law.