Reframing Criminal Justice for Persons with Mental Disorders: A Pancasila-Based Legal Advocacy and Access to Justice Model

Sri Budi Rahajo; Hartiwiningsih Hartiwiningsih; Ismunarno Ismunarno; Deshinta Arrova   Dewi

doi:10.15294/ijals.v8i2.48888

Authors

Sri Budi Rahajo Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia Author https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0444-4786
Hartiwiningsih Hartiwiningsih Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3761-9117
Ismunarno Ismunarno Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia Author https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9580-5343
Deshinta Arrova Dewi Centre for Data Science and Sustainable Technologies, INTI International University, Negeri Sembilan , Malaysia Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1488-7696

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15294/ijals.v8i2.48888

Keywords:

Socio-legal advocacy, Criminal justice, Paranoid schizophrenia, Pancasila justice, Discriminatory law

Abstract

The processing of criminal cases of individuals with psychosocial disabilities, and in particular those diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, has raised several issues in Indonesia related to the law, ethics, mental health, and human rights. The criminal justice system must establish an individual’s criminal responsibility, while ensuring their dignity and protecting victims, and safeguarding of public. This study applies an empirical socio-legal approach to identify the gaps in legal advocacy, psychiatric assessment, and access to justice, rehabilitation, and victim protection. For this empirical research, qualitative data were collected in Surakarta and Semarang which are located in Central Java Province of Indonesia. It had been started from January to June 2025, involving 24 participants such as law enforcement and legal professionals, mental health professionals, family members, and social-service actors. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field observations, and document review, and were analysed thematically. The results show a dissonance between legal frameworks and the reality of institutional practices, especially in early psychiatric evaluation, inter-agency cooperation, and the continuity of rehabilitation, as well as the support of victims and their families. This study offers a legal advocacy and access to justice model grounded in the Pancasila which integrates legal services, psychiatric evaluation, rehabilitation, and victim protection, as well as the continued responsibility of the state, family, and community. This study contributes to Symbiotic Justice as a relational framework of analysis where justice is construed through the person with psychosocial disability, victim, family, and community, as well as the legal and medical fields and the state. The model seeks to harmonize legal certainty, substantive justice, and dignity with the balance of the rights of persons with disabilities, the public, and victims. Though based on Pancasila, this framework advances global discourse on disability justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice, and access to justice.

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