Penal Proportionality in the Protection of Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Law

Abstract

This study explores the penal proportionality in the Protection of Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Law. It is argued that the severity of criminal sanction must correspond to the offense's seriousness. Using doctrinal legal research, this study employed a statute and conceptual approach with the literature study to collect the data. The finding of this study shows that the PLP2B Law violates the penal proportionality principle when it determines the threat of a criminal consequence. Even though they are considered minor infractions, several of them carry relatively significant criminal penalties that even outweigh the possibility of punishment for more serious acts. The objective of matching the seriousness of the offense to the severity of the criminal sanction has not been fully achieved. The determination of such threats of criminal sanctions does not, on a large scale, reflect the importance of social justice for all Indonesians. By taking into account the rank of offenses in the environmental harm-based criminalization model, Article 73 of the PLP2B Law must be proportionate to the magnitude of the offense. The determination of criminal sanction threats in the Law needs to be considered and compared to the determination of criminal sanction threats in other environmental laws.