Pertanggungjawaban Pidana Anak sebagai Lady Companion Pelaku Tindak Pidana Infanticide: Studi Putusan Pengadilan Negeri Medan Nomor 53/Pid.Sus-Anak/2023/PN Mdn

Abstract

The state has a constitutional responsibility to protect children as the nation's future generation, as stipulated in the Preamble and Article 28B of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. However, complex socio-economic conditions, including sexual exploitation practices, drive children's involvement in criminal acts such as infanticide. The case of a child working as a lady companion who became a perpetrator of infanticide in Medan District Court Decision Number 53/Pid.Sus-Anak/2023/PN Mdn illustrates the legal challenges in adjudicating children as both criminal perpetrators and victims of sexual exploitation. The research problems in this study are how the legal regulation of murder against children is governed according to Indonesian criminal law, how the criminal responsibility of children as lady companions who commit infanticide is addressed in Medan District Court Decision Number 53/Pid.Sus-Anak/2023/PN Mdn, and how the analysis of judicial considerations in Medan District Court Decision Number 53/Pid.Sus-Anak/2023/PN Mdn relates to the protection of children as lady companions who commit infanticide. The research method employed in this thesis is normative legal research, which is legal research conducted by examining library materials or secondary data obtained from primary legal materials, secondary legal materials, and tertiary legal materials. The regulation of murder against children according to Indonesian criminal law is governed by Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning Criminal Law Regulations in Articles 338-350, Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code in Articles 458-465, and Law Number 35 of 2014 concerning Child Protection in Article 80 paragraphs (3) and (4). Criminal responsibility for children as lady companions who commit infanticide is applied based on the fulfillment of elements including capacity to be held responsible, fault, and the absence of justification. The imposition of punishment against the child in Medan District Court Decision Number 53/Pid.Sus-Anak/2023/PN Mdn has formally fulfilled the aspects of criminal responsibility by imposing a two-year prison sentence and two months of job training. However, the judge's considerations have not reflected adequate protection for children as lady companions in infanticide cases, thus requiring a more comprehensive approach accompanied by recovery efforts to prevent recidivism and break the cycle of exploitation against children post-conviction.