ANALISIS YURIDIS PENGATURAN PENGAKUAN BERSALAH (PLEA BARGAINING) DALAM KUHAP DAN PERBANDINGAN DENGAN NEGARA AMERIKA SERIKAT

Abstract

The principle of a simple, speedy, and low-cost judicial process constitutes a fundamental guideline in the Indonesian criminal justice system. However, in practice, criminal case resolution often faces obstacles such as lengthy court proceedings, case backlogs, and high procedural costs, which undermine legal certainty and the fulfillment of justice. As part of criminal procedural law reform, the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code of 2025 introduces a guilty plea mechanism as a special procedure that allows defendants to admit guilt under specific conditions in order to simplify the trial process. This mechanism shows similarities to the plea bargaining system applied in the United States and regulated under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. This article aims to analyze the regulation of guilty plea in the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code of 2025 and to compare it with the plea bargaining framework in the United States in achieving judicial efficiency. This study employs normative legal research using statutory, comparative, and conceptual approaches. The results indicate that the guilty plea mechanism in Indonesia remains limited due to restrictions based on the severity of criminal penalties, making it less flexible than plea bargaining in the United States. Therefore, regulatory improvement is necessary to optimize the guilty plea mechanism while ensuring judicial oversight, protection of defendants’ rights, and the realization of substantive justice.