Sadd al-dharīʿah and Capital Punishment for Corruption in Indonesia: Reconstructing the ‘Certain Circumstances’ Clause after the 2026 Penal Adjustment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59944/jipsi.v5i4.1968Keywords:
Sadd Al-Dharīʿah, Capital Punishment, Corruption, Certain Circumstances, Maqāṣid Al-SharīʿahAbstract
This article examines the legal limits of capital punishment for corruption in Indonesia after the 2023 Criminal Code took effect and Law No. 1 of 2026 adjusted the sentencing regime. It also asks under what conditions sadd al-dharīʿah can support that punishment. Using doctrinal legal research, the study interprets Indonesian legislation and judicial guidance alongside classical Islamic legal theory and selected secondary scholarship. It finds that capital punishment remains an exceptional and discretionary possibility, subject to a qualifying offense and statutory “certain circumstances,” individualized sentencing criteria, and the ten-year probationary regime. Sadd al-dharīʿah does not independently justify the most severe sanction: its preventive rationale requires a credible connection between means and ends, consideration of foreseeable consequences, and comparison with less harmful alternatives. The article develops a six-stage preventive-proportionality test addressing legality, causal proximity, severity and probability of harm, individualized culpability, necessity, and procedural safeguards. This framework offers a structured way to assess whether an irreversible sentence can be justified in an eligible case; it does not claim to establish that capital punishment deters corruption
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