Article 402 of Indonesia's Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana) wrongly criminalizes matters related to marriage law.
NOT BSTOTAL BS
SOME BS — Verdict: Mixed
Verified by Lenz ·
The Short Version
Article 402 does criminalize certain conduct tied to marriage law—specifically, marrying while knowingly facing a legal impediment (such as an existing valid marriage). But describing this as “wrongly” criminalizing marriage-law matters is not supported by the strongest sources, which characterize it as a narrow, longstanding-type offense (continuous with older KUHP provisions) with a protective rationale. The “wrongly” framing reflects a contested policy view, not an established fact about the article’s legal character.
Caveats
The word “wrongly” is a subjective, normative conclusion; the cited evidence mainly supports a descriptive point (Article 402 relies on marriage-law impediments), not that the criminalization is legally improper.
Article 402 is narrower than many summaries imply: it targets knowing violations of legal impediments (e.g., bigamy-type situations), not mere unregistered (siri) marriage in general.
Some supporting criticism relies on broad commentary about “morality” provisions rather than specific, authoritative analysis of Article 402’s elements and scope.