Reconstruction of the Prosecution Service's Prosecutorial Authority in the Indonesian Criminal Justice System: Integration of the Dominus Litis Principle, the Data-Driven Justice Approach, and Indonesian Values

Abstract

This study reconstructs the prosecutorial authority of the Indonesian Prosecution Service as dominus litis at the pre-adjudication stage by integrating comparative prosecution models, data-driven justice, restorative justice, and Indonesian legal values. The analysis is situated in the current procedural framework created by Law No. 20 of 2025 on the Criminal Procedure Code, effective from 2 January 2026, which replaced the 1981 Criminal Procedure Code and introduced mandatory investigator-prosecutor coordination from the investigation stage. Using normative legal research, the study examines Indonesian primary legal materials and compares relevant institutional features of prosecution in the Netherlands, the United States, and Singapore. The analysis indicates that Indonesia has moved beyond the former sequential model toward earlier coordination, but statutory coordination remains distinct from a fully prosecutor-directed investigation model. The appropriate reconstruction is therefore not the concentration of investigative power in the Prosecution Service, but an accountable form of dominus litis based on functional independence, early evidentiary coordination, structured prosecutorial discretion, and reviewable decision making. Data-driven tools can support consistency, case monitoring, and evidentiary assessment, but they should remain decision-support mechanisms subject to human review, transparency, privacy protection, and bias safeguards. Restorative justice and Pancasila values further require proportionality, deliberation, victim protection, equal treatment, and inter-institutional cooperation. The resulting model positions the prosecutor as a coordinating case controller within an integrated criminal justice system while preserving institutional boundaries and due process.