A police officer stands guard in front of the Constitutional Court building on Feb. 4, 2025, in Jakarta. - Antara via The Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA: The government is preparing a legal framework to allow police officers to serve in certain civilian ministries and state agencies, a move that analysts say runs counter to Constitutional Court rulings barring such appointments unless they are directly related to policing and stipulated by law.
Last November, the Constitutional Court struck down an ambiguous provision in the National Police Law that had allowed police officers to assume civilian posts in ministries and state bodies, ruling that they must resign or retire before taking up roles “outside the police force”.
Rights and pro-democracy groups hailed the ruling as a key step in police reform, arguing that restricting officers from holding dual posts in civilian government would help keep the force professional and focussed on its core law enforcement duties.
However, Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Wednesday (Jan 21) the placement of police officers in certain government roles remained legally “valid”, adding that a government regulation was being drafted to specify which civilian posts officers may hold.
“The government regulation is necessary to provide legal certainty,” Yusril said, noting that the draft was being prepared by the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry and the State Secretariat under his ministry’s supervision.
While he did not specify which civilian roles would be covered, Yusril said the drafting process had made significant progress and that the regulation was expected to be finalised by the end of January.
The move followed the court’s decision on Monday to dismiss a fresh judicial challenge to the National Police Law and Civil Service (ASN) Law, which respectively define “positions outside the police force” as “roles unrelated to policing”, and allow police officers to occupy “certain” government posts.
In its legal reasoning, the court reiterated that police officers are required to resign or retire only when assuming positions in ministries and state agencies that are “unrelated to policing”, whether managerial or non-managerial.
“Therefore, as long as a position is related to policing, active police officers can hold the post without resigning or retiring,” Justice Ridwan Mansyur said when reading out the ruling.
A quick fix?
Noting that the National Police Law does not clearly define which positions are considered related to police duties, the court said such criteria must be established in the law itself to provide a proper legal basis, with government regulations serving only as implementing rules.
Responding to the court’s reasoning, Yusril said the government viewed it as a constitutional “recommendation rather than a prohibition”, adding that the planned government regulation would serve as a temporary measure while revisions to the National Police Law and ASN Law were underway.
Constitutional law expert Charles Simabura of Andalas University criticiSed the move as “unconstitutional”, arguing that a government regulation would conflict with the court’s ruling, which calls for police officers to be treated the same as military personnel in civilian postings.
Military appointments, he noted, are already regulated under the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law. “The government should prioritise revising the National Police Law to comply with the court’s ruling,” Charles told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, noting that the government must demonstrate respect for judicial decisions.
He suggested the regulation could be an attempt to bypass a lengthy legislative process and “legitimise existing appointments” to avoid sweeping changes across ministries and state institutions.
Court records from the November ruling showed that 4,351 police officers, including 1,184 senior officers, held positions outside the police force in 2025, up from 2,822 in 2024.
The police have disputed the figures, saying only around 300 officers occupy civilian managerial roles. The planned government regulation follows criticism of National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who last December issued an internal regulation assigning active police officers to 17 ministries and government agencies, defying the November court ruling.
Some of the posts, including positions at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the Forestry Ministry and the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry, were described by critics as unrelated to the police’s core duties.
Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko said on Tuesday that the force fully respected Monday’s ruling, adding that it provided “legal clarity” for police assignments to certain positions outside the force and reinforced the police’s commitment to professionalism and accountability. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
