THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S AUTHORITY IN DEPONEERING: JURIDICAL ISSUES, LEGAL POLITICS, AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES IN THE DEMOCRATIC ERA

Abstract

The Attorney General's authority to exercise deponeering constitutes an exceptional form of prosecutorial discretion within Indonesia's criminal justice system, permitting the discontinuation of criminal prosecution on the grounds of public interest. Although this authority is constitutionally recognized under Law Number 11 of 2021 and affirmed by Constitutional Court Decision Number 29/PUU-XIV/2016, its implementation continues to generate debate regarding legal certainty, equality before the law, and democratic accountability. This study aims to examine the constitutional foundation, legal politics, and implementation challenges of deponeering while proposing a framework for strengthening its constitutional legitimacy. Employing a qualitative doctrinal legal research design with a library research approach, the study analyzes constitutional provisions, statutory regulations, judicial decisions, and relevant scholarly literature on prosecutorial discretion, the rule of law, and democratic governance. The findings indicate that the principal challenge does not lie in the constitutional recognition of deponeering but in the absence of objective legal standards governing the interpretation of public interest, procedural transparency, and institutional accountability. Consequently, the constitutional legitimacy of deponeering should be evaluated not merely by reference to statutory authorization but by the extent to which prosecutorial discretion is exercised consistently with the principles of legality, objective public interest, transparency, and institutional accountability. This study proposes the Democratic Accountability Framework of Deponeering as a conceptual model for strengthening constitutional control over exceptional prosecutorial discretion while preserving prosecutorial independence and promoting democratic governance. The proposed framework contributes to contemporary scholarship on prosecutorial discretion and offers normative guidance for future reform of Indonesia's prosecution system.