Victim-Centred Asset Recovery in Money Laundering Cases in Indonesia: Balancing Legal Certainty and Substantive Justice Fahrizal S.Siagian (a*), Mahmud Mulyadi (b), Marlina (c), Rosmalinda (d)
a) PhD student in Law at Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
*fahrizalsiagian[at]students.usu.ac.id
b) Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
c) Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
d) Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
Abstract
Money laundering offences not only affect the stability of the financial system, but also cause direct losses to victims, who often have not yet received adequate compensation. In practice, law enforcement against money laundering in Indonesia still tends to focus on punishing perpetrators and confiscating assets for the state, whilst the victims^ interests in obtaining compensation for their losses have not yet been fully prioritised. This study aims to analyse the concept of victim-oriented asset recovery in money laundering cases in Indonesia, with an emphasis on striking a balance between legal certainty and substantive justice. This study employs a normative legal methodology using legislative and conceptual approaches. The findings indicate that asset recovery for victims requires the strengthening of legal mechanisms that not only ensure that assets derived from criminal offences can be traced, frozen, seized and confiscated, but also returned to victims in a fair and proportionate manner. Legal certainty is required to guarantee clear, measurable and enforceable procedures, whilst substantive justice is necessary to ensure that the recovery process does not stop at formalities but genuinely addresses the victims^ losses. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen regulations and judicial practices that place victims at the centre of asset recovery mechanisms in money laundering cases in Indonesia.
