Virtual Witness Testimony in Criminal Cases During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study on Evidence in the Banda Aceh Sharia Court

Mohammad Salim; Mukhsin Nyak Umar; Rahmat Saputra; Wisnu Adiyaksa Dault; Muhammad Hafidh Ath-Thayyar

doi:10.22373/legitimasi.v13i2.27574

Virtual Witness Testimony in Criminal Cases During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study on Evidence in the Banda Aceh Sharia Court

Mohammad Salim, Mukhsin Nyak Umar, Rahmat Saputra, Wisnu Adiyaksa Dault, Muhammad Hafidh Ath-Thayyar

Abstract

This study discusses the legal certainty of electronic criminal trials, particularly the presentation of witness testimony virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guidelines for electronic criminal trials are needed to ensure uniform implementation and to uphold fair trial rights. As a province with the authority of the Syar'iyah Court, Aceh should be able to anticipate the spread of COVID-19 by implementing electronic trials. The research focuses on the regulations related to electronic trials, specifically the presentation of witness testimonies virtually as evidence in criminal cases, and the practices implemented at the Banda Aceh Sharia Court. This research uses a descriptive-analytical method with a qualitative approach. The sources of data for the research are field research and library research. The research results show that the form of legal certainty regarding electronic criminal trials or jinayat during the COVID-19 pandemic is the agreement on cooperation between the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor's Office, and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on the Implementation of Trials Through Teleconference, which was then established by Supreme Court Regulation Number 4 of 2020 concerning the Administration and Trial of Criminal Cases in Court Electronically. In practice, the Banda Aceh Sharia Court determined that the presentation of witness testimony during the COVID-19 pandemic must be conducted in the courtroom. However, it is still carried out virtually to connect with the defendant in the detention center or prison where he is held.

Keywords

Witness Testimony; Jinayat; Covid-19 Pandemic

Full Text:

PDF

References

Ahyar, Ahyar. “Aspek Hukum Pelaksanaan Qanun Jinayat Di Provinsi Aceh.” Jurnal Penelitian Hukum De Jure 17, no. 2 (2017): 131–154.

Ariani, Nevey Varida, Suharyo, Ulang Mangun Sosiawan, Yuliyanto, Hilmi Ardani Nasution, and Fuzi Narindrani. “The Implementation of the Law of Criminal Procedure in Judicial Process During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Law and Human Rights 2020 (ICLHR 2020), Vol. 549, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210506.028.

Aziani, Alberto, Gianluca A. Bertoni, Maria Jofre, and Michele Riccardi. “COVID-19 and Organized Crime: Strategies Employed by Criminal Groups to Increase Their Profits and Power in the First Months of the Pandemic.” Trends in Organized Crime 26, no. 2 (2023).

Bahri, S. Hukum Pembuktian Dalam Praktik Peradilan Pidana. Yogyakarta: P3IH FH UMJ Totalmedia, 2009.

Çalışkan, Aykut. “Crime, Pandemic and Social Mobility: Empirical Evidence from Türkiye.” Crime, Law and Social Change 81, no. 4 (2024).

David, Jean Denis, and Megan Mitchell. “Contacts with the Police and the Over-Representation of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Criminal Justice System.” Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 63, no. 2 (2021).

Din, Mohd, and Al Yasa’ Abubakar. “The Position of the Qanun Jinayat as a Forum for the Implementation of Sharia in Aceh in the Indonesian Constitution.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 5, no. 2 (2021): 689–709.

Djoko Prakoso. Alat Bukti Dan Kekuatan Pembuktian Di Dalam Proses Pidana. Yogyakarta: Liberty, 1988.

Ferguson, Andrew Guthrie. “Courts without Court.” Vanderbilt Law Review 75, no. 5 (2022).

González, Thalia. “Restorative Justice Diversion as a Structural Health Intervention in the Criminal Legal System.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 113, no. 3 (2023).

Handika, Sandhy, Muhammad Ibnu Fajar Rahim, and Rudi Pradisetia Sudirdja. “Virtual Court Policy For Criminal Justice on Corona Virus Disease Pandemic.” Substantive Justice International Journal of Law 3, no. 1 (2020).

Harahap, Yahya. Pembahasan Permasalahan Dan Penerapan KUHAP-Pemeriksaan Sidang Pengadilan Banding, Kasasi, Dan Peninjauan Kembali. Jakarta: Sina Grafika, 2012.

Hawilo, Maria, Kat Albrecht, Meredith Martin Rountree, and Thomas Geraghty. “HOW CULTURE IMPACTS COURTROOMS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF ALIENATION AND DETACHMENT IN THE COOK COUNTY COURT SYSTEM.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 112, no. 2 (2022).

Hoft, Joseph. “Forensic Science.” In The Encyclopedia of Research Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice: Volume II: Parts 5-8, 2021.

Kirschstein, Madeleine A., Ashley B. Batastini, Jay P. Singh, and Marc Graf. “Technological Innovations in Forensic and Correctional Mental Health: An Introduction to the Special Issue.” Criminal Justice and Behavior 50, no. 2 (2023).

Kurniawan, Kukuh Dwi. “Porn Videos as Evidence of Adultery: A Comparative Study of Indonesian Criminal Law and Islamic Law.” Legality: Jurnal Ilmiah Hukum 30, no. 2 (2022).

Larner, Samuel, and Hannah Smithson. “‘How Can You Punish a Child for Something That Happened over a Year Ago?’ The Impacts of COVID-19 on Child Defendants and Implications for Youth Courts.” Journal of Criminal Law 87, no. 4 (2023).

Makanje, Gift Dorothy. “The Admissibility of Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in Malawi: A Call for Reliability Safeguards.” Journal of African Law 67, no. 1 (2023).

Mykhalovskiy, Eric, Cécile Kazatchkine, Annie Foreman-Mackey, Alexander McClelland, Ryan Peck, Colin Hastings, and Richard Elliott. “Human Rights, Public Health and COVID-19 in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Public Health 111, no. 6 (2020).

Perin, Andrea. “Criminal Liability for Contagion. On ‘Reckless’ Exposure to Risk of Infection (Lessons from the Hiv Experience for the COVID-19 Scenario).” BioLaw Journal 2020, no. Special Issue 1 (2020).

Polykarpou, Maro. “Prosecutorial and Police Disclosure Ethics in Criminal Evidence Review in the UK and the US. A Comparative Account.” Criminal Justice Ethics 41, no. 1 (2022).

Purba, Nelvitia, Ali Mukti Tanjung, Sri Sulistyawati, Rudy Pramono, and Agus Purwanto. “Death Penalty and Human Rights in Indonesia.” International Journal of Criminology and Sociology 20, no. 9 (2020). https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2020.09.156.

Salim, Arskal. “Adat and Islamic Law in Contemporary Aceh, Indonesia: Unequal Coexistence and Asymmetric Contestation.” Samarah 5, no. 2 (2021).

Sasangka. Hukum Pembuktian Dalam Perkara Pidana. Bandung: Mandar Maju, 2003.

Siahaan, Monang. Falsafah Dan Filosofi Hukum Acara Pidana. Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada, 2017.

Sulistyani, Wanodyo. “The Admissibility of Scientific Expert Evidence under the Indonesian Criminal Justice System.” Sriwijaya Law Review, 2019.

Sumardi, Dedy, Mukhsin Nyak Umar, Ruslan Sangaji, Firdaus M Yunus, and Rahmatul Akbar. “Transition of Civil Law to Public Law: Integration of Modern Punishment Theory in Criminal Apostasy.” Ahkam: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah 22, no. 1 (June 30, 2022).

Šupa, Maryja, Vytautas Kaktinas, and Aistė Rinkevičiūtė. “Computer-Dependent or Computer-Assisted? The Social Context of Online Crime in Lithuanian Court Judgements.” International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 73 (2023).

White, Elizabeth. “Closing Cases with Open-Source: Facilitating the Use of User-Generated Open-Source Evidence in International Criminal Investigations through the Creation of a Standing Investigative Mechanism.” Leiden Journal of International Law 37, no. 1 (2024).

Zainuddin, Muslim, Mukhsin Nyak Umar, Dedy Sumardi, Mansari Mansari, and Zakki Fuad Khalil. “Protection of Women and Children in the Perspective of Legal Pluralism: A Study in Aceh and West Nusa Tenggara.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam Hukum Islam 8, no. 3 (2024): 1948–73.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22373/legitimasi.v13i2.27574