The Rehabilitation Paradox: Drug Offending in Indonesia’s Overcrowded Prisons Amidst the Transition to the New Criminal Code

Wahyu Saefudin; Caitlin Hughes; Melissa de Vel-Palumbo

The Rehabilitation Paradox: Drug Offending in Indonesia’s Overcrowded Prisons Amidst the Transition to the New Criminal Code

College of Business, Government and Law

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

Indonesia's correctional system is currently facing a serious structural crisis. With an official capacity designed for 149,605 people, the system is currently accommodating 272,359 prisoners, operating at an occupancy rate of nearly 190%. The main factor behind this overcrowding is the philosophy of strict punishment embedded in Law No. 35 of 2009, which holds that harsh penalties deter crime. As a result, 147,255 prisoners are incarcerated for drug-related offences. But Indonesia is set to enter a new rehabilitative era of Law 1 2023 (effective January 2026). This paper will examine past and future correctional policy in Indonesia with a view to critically examining the likely impacts on the correctional system and on drug-related offending in Indonesia.

Original language	English
Number of pages	23
Publication status	Published - 30 Jun 2026
Event	19th Annual ISSDP Conference 2026: Connecting affected communities, drug policy and public health - National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) at Curtin University, Perth, Australia Duration: 30 Jun 2026 → 2 Jul 2026 Conference number: 19th https://www.issdp.org/conferences-and-events/

Conference

Conference	19th Annual ISSDP Conference 2026
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Perth
Period	30/06/26 → 2/07/26
Internet address	https://www.issdp.org/conferences-and-events/

Keywords

Indonesia
prisons
overcrowding
criminal justice system

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https://www.issdp.org/conferences-and-events/Licence: In Copyright

Cite this

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title = "The Rehabilitation Paradox: Drug Offending in Indonesia{\textquoteright}s Overcrowded Prisons Amidst the Transition to the New Criminal Code",

abstract = "Indonesia's correctional system is currently facing a serious structural crisis. With an official capacity designed for 149,605 people, the system is currently accommodating 272,359 prisoners, operating at an occupancy rate of nearly 190\%. The main factor behind this overcrowding is the philosophy of strict punishment embedded in Law No. 35 of 2009, which holds that harsh penalties deter crime. As a result, 147,255 prisoners are incarcerated for drug-related offences. But Indonesia is set to enter a new rehabilitative era of Law 1 2023 (effective January 2026). This paper will examine past and future correctional policy in Indonesia with a view to critically examining the likely impacts on the correctional system and on drug-related offending in Indonesia. ",

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AU - Hughes, Caitlin

AU - de Vel-Palumbo, Melissa

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N2 - Indonesia's correctional system is currently facing a serious structural crisis. With an official capacity designed for 149,605 people, the system is currently accommodating 272,359 prisoners, operating at an occupancy rate of nearly 190%. The main factor behind this overcrowding is the philosophy of strict punishment embedded in Law No. 35 of 2009, which holds that harsh penalties deter crime. As a result, 147,255 prisoners are incarcerated for drug-related offences. But Indonesia is set to enter a new rehabilitative era of Law 1 2023 (effective January 2026). This paper will examine past and future correctional policy in Indonesia with a view to critically examining the likely impacts on the correctional system and on drug-related offending in Indonesia.

AB - Indonesia's correctional system is currently facing a serious structural crisis. With an official capacity designed for 149,605 people, the system is currently accommodating 272,359 prisoners, operating at an occupancy rate of nearly 190%. The main factor behind this overcrowding is the philosophy of strict punishment embedded in Law No. 35 of 2009, which holds that harsh penalties deter crime. As a result, 147,255 prisoners are incarcerated for drug-related offences. But Indonesia is set to enter a new rehabilitative era of Law 1 2023 (effective January 2026). This paper will examine past and future correctional policy in Indonesia with a view to critically examining the likely impacts on the correctional system and on drug-related offending in Indonesia.

KW - Indonesia

KW - prisons

KW - overcrowding

KW - criminal justice system

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 30 June 2026 through 2 July 2026

ER -

The Rehabilitation Paradox: Drug Offending in Indonesia’s Overcrowded Prisons Amidst the Transition to the New Criminal Code

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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