ANALISIS PUTUSAN PADA PERKARA TINDAK PIDANA PERDAGANGAN ANAK PADA PERKARA NOMOR 166/PID.SUS/2025/PN.MLG

The purpose of this final project is to identify the process of resolving child trafficking criminal cases and to analyze the legal considerations of the judge in Decision Number 166/Pid.Sus/2025/PN.Mlg. This research applies an empirical juridical method that emphasizes legal phenomena in criminal judicial practice. The author uses primary legal materials in the form of Decision Number 166/Pid.Sus/2025/PN.Mlg, interviews with the defendant’s legal counsel, and direct observation of court proceedings at the Malang District Court, supported by secondary and tertiary legal materials as complementary primary data. The case resolution process a quo was carried out from the stage of legal assistance, prosecution, to examination and evidentiary proceedings in court, which procedurally have been conducted in accordance with the provisions of criminal procedural law. The panel of judges declared the defendant legally and convincingly proven to have committed the crime of child trafficking and imposed a sentence of imprisonment and a fine. An analysis of the judge’s legal considerations indicates the inclusion of considerations regarding similar acts previously committed by the defendant, which were used as aggravating circumstances, despite the fact that such acts were not proven during the trial and were not supported by valid evidence. These considerations contradict the presumption of innocence and the negative legal proof system as regulated in Articles 183 and 184 of the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP), thereby potentially giving rise to issues concerning legal certainty in the judgment.