The Doctoral Program in Legal Studies at the UGM Faculty of Law (PDIH FH UGM) has produced another new legal expert with a strategic contribution to the improvement of Indonesia's criminal justice system. Jupriyadi, S.H., M.Hum., currently serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia (Hakim Agung Mahkamah Agung RI), successfully defended his dissertation at the doctoral defense ceremony held on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Auditorium of Building B, FH UGM.
In his doctoral research, titled "Reformulating the Regulation of Judicial Review (Peninjauan Kembali) as an Extraordinary Legal Remedy in Criminal Cases in the Practice of Adjudication in Indonesia", Jupriyadi identified a troubling phenomenon: the progressive degradation of the status of Peninjauan Kembali (PK) - the extraordinary remedy of judicial review in the Indonesian criminal justice system. His research identified a growing tendency for PK to be used as if it were a second-tier proceeding, when it should in principle remain an extraordinary remedy. His data show that between 2020 and 2024, applications for PK that bypassed the ordinary legal remedies of appeal (banding) and cassation (kasasi) averaged 61.31% of all applications. This situation is driven by the absence of an explicit requirement for applicants to exhaust ordinary remedies first, as well as the existence of judicial power to impose sentences below the statutory minimum through the PK mechanism.
In response to the degradation of PK's status, Jupriyadi proposed a solution in the form of a reformulation of both the formal and substantive requirements for PK. "For PK to remain a genuinely extraordinary remedy, applicants should be required to exhaust ordinary legal remedies first -- except in cases involving newly discovered evidence.
The doctoral defense was chaired by Dahliana Hasan, S.H., M.Tax., Ph.D. as Head of the Examining Panel. The Promotor team comprised Prof. Dr. Marcus Priyo Gunarto, S.H., M.Hum. as Promotor and Dr. Dra. Dani Krisnawati, S.H., M.Hum. as Co-Promotor. The examining panel also included Dr. Supriyadi, S.H., M.Hum., Sri Wiyanti Eddyono, S.H., LL.M.(HR)., Ph.D., and external examiner Binziad Kadafi, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D. A guest examiner also attended: Prof. Dr. Sunarto, S.H., M.H., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia. On the basis of the examining panel's assessment, Jupriyadi was awarded his doctoral degree - making him the 280th doctoral graduate of the UGM Faculty of Law and the 7,156th doctoral graduate of Universitas Gadjah Mada.
This academic research reflects a concrete contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). The reformulation of PK proposed by Jupriyadi is hoped to deliver legal certainty and ensure substantive justice, thereby strengthening Indonesia's adjudicative system and making it more worthy of trust among those who seek justice. The dissertation is hoped to serve as a strategic guide for legislators and the Supreme Court in overseeing the implementation of better-ordered regulation - ensuring that the practical benefits of the law are truly realized for all citizens.
Author : Wisnu Arya Audanta (Part-Time Staff, Doctoral Program in Law)
