Constitutional Review of Narcotics Arrest Extension: MK 205/PUU-XXIV/2026

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia has decided case 205/PUU-XXIV/2026, a petition for judicial review of Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics (Undang-Undang Nomor 35 Tahun 2009 tentang Narkotika). The petitioner, Setiawan, is a private individual who was named a suspect and arrested by the narcotics unit of the Labuhanbatu Regional Police in late April 2026. He asked the Court to test the arrest provisions of Article 76 of that law against the 1945 Constitution. The evidence he filed traced the sequence of his own case: the arrest warrant of 27 April 2026, the extension of that warrant issued three days later, the notice of commencement of investigation, the detention order of 3 May 2026, the decision naming him a suspect, the record of his examination, and a pretrial ruling of the Rantauprapat District Court numbered 3/Pid.Pra/2026/PN Rap and dated 22 May 2026.

Legal Reasoning

The Court addressed its authority first. Citing Article 24C paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution, Article 10 paragraph (1) letter a of Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court as last amended by Law No. 7 of 2020, and Article 29 paragraph (1) letter a of Law No. 48 of 2009 on Judicial Power, it recorded that it hears and decides, at first and last instance and with final effect, the review of statutes against the Constitution. Because the petition concerned the constitutionality of a statutory norm, namely Article 76 paragraph (1) of Law No. 35 of 2009, the Court held that the matter fell within its authority.

Having established authority, the Court stated that it would consider certain preliminary matters before turning to legal standing and the merits. It recorded that a preliminary examination hearing was held on 18 June 2026 to hear the outline of the petition and to examine the completeness and clarity of its contents. In accordance with Article 39 of the Constitutional Court Law and Article 36 paragraph (3) of Constitutional Court Regulation No. 7 of 2025, the panel advised the petitioner to correct and clarify the parts of the petition dealing with the Court's authority, the petitioner's legal standing, the grounds of the petition, and the relief sought, so that the submission would follow the structure prescribed by that regulation. The petitioner was given fourteen days from the preliminary hearing, with a filing deadline of 1 July 2026, and lodged a revised petition on 27 June 2026.

The Court then measured the revised petition against Article 30 letter a and Article 31 paragraph (1) of the Constitutional Court Law, together with Article 10 paragraph (3) and Article 36 paragraph (1) of Regulation No. 7 of 2025. Those provisions require a petition to set out at minimum the petitioner's name and address, the grounds on which the petition rests, and the matters to be decided, and they require the review of a statute against the Constitution to be described clearly. The Court accepted that the petition had been arranged according to the prescribed structure, covering the Court's authority, legal standing, the grounds, and the relief sought. It added that formal sufficiency is not assessed on structure alone: the content and accuracy of each required section are examined as well.

On that footing the Court examined whether the grounds of the petition and the relief sought corresponded. It referred to Article 68 of Regulation No. 7 of 2025, which permits the Court to declare a petition unclear or obscure where there is a mismatch between the arguments set out in the grounds and the relief requested, where an argument appears in one part but not the other, or where the items requested contradict one another without an alternative being offered. Reading the petition against that provision, the Court noted that the norm identified as the object of review was Article 76 paragraph (1) of Law No. 35 of 2009, while the relief sought was directed at Article 76 paragraph (2), the provision stating that an arrest may be extended for a maximum of 3 x 24 hours. The petitioner asked the Court to declare that phrase contrary to the Constitution unless read to mean that an extension of arrest may not be applied to a suspect who has already been apprehended and is in the custody of the investigator, with a further alternative formulation offered in the same request.

The Ruling

The Court did not proceed to legal standing or to the substance of the arrest-extension provision. Its operative order states: "Menyatakan permohonan Pemohon tidak dapat diterima" — the petition is declared inadmissible. No dissenting opinion accompanies the decision. The wording of Article 76 paragraph (2) of Law No. 35 of 2009 therefore stands unchanged, and the constitutional question the petitioner raised about extending an arrest against a suspect already in custody remains open for a future petition that meets the formal requirements.

Read the full decision in the official record.

Methodology: This memo summarises the official decision text and is not legal advice; report corrections to contact@crpg.info.

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