The Principle of Legality in Cyber Crimes Comparative Study between Indonesian ITE Law and International Cyber Law

Abstract

The principle of legality is a fundamental principle in modern criminal law, which demands that no act can be punished without pre-existing legal provisions. In the context of cybercrime, the application of the principle of legality faces significant challenges due to the transnational, complex, and rapidly evolving nature of cyber. This study aims to analyze the extent to which the provisions of cyber crimes in the Indonesian Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE) fulfill the principle of legality, especially the elements of lex scripta, lex certa, and lex stricta, and to compare them with the provisions of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and its implementation in countries such as Germany and Japan.

Through a normative legal approach and comparative legal method, this study found that although the ITE Law has formally fulfilled lex scripta, many of its provisions are still vague and open to multiple interpretations, thus failing to fulfill the elements of lex certa and lex stricta. Articles such as Article 27 paragraph (3) and Article 28 paragraph (2) of the ITE Law are often used excessively and repressively, without adequate legal certainty. In contrast, the Budapest Convention emphasizes the formulation of detailed, proportional criminal norms that uphold human rights. The results of this study indicate that cyber criminal law reform in Indonesia is urgently needed to be in line with the principles of a democratic state of law. Harmonization with international standards such as the Budapest Convention is an important step to ensure legal certainty, justice, and protection of digital rights in the information era.