Legal Harmonization in the Enforcement of Corruption in the Banking Sector: Dualism Between Anti-Corruption Law and Banking Law

Abstract

Applying the law to corruption in the banking sector has its complexities due to legal dualism between the Anti-Corruption Law and the Banking Law. In Law No. 31 of 1999, which was amended into Law No. 20 of 2001 on the Eradication of Corruption, Article 14 specifically stated that sectoral criminal acts can only be classified as corruption if they are regulated in the relevant sectoral law. However, in practice many banking cases, especially bad debts and embezzlement of funds, are processed as corruption crimes by referring to Article 2 paragraph 1 and Article 3 of the Anti-Corruption Law. This research used a normative approach with statute approach and conceptual approach methods. The analysis was conducted on the Anti-Corruption Law and Banking Law, as well as their application in various court decisions. The results show that legal uncertainty arises due to differences in interpretation between sectoral laws and the Anti- Corruption Law. In some cases, the Banking Law which has specific provisions should be applied. Therefore, this study recommends the need for harmonization between the two laws to increase legal certainty and the effectiveness of law enforcement in corruption cases in the banking sector.