RECONSTRUCTION OF BRIBERY SENTENCING REGULATIONS BASED ON JUSTICE AND LEGAL CERTAINTY VALUES

This study aims to analyze the implementation of bribery sentencing regulations, identify inhibiting factors in their application, and formulate a reconstruction model of bribery sentencing regulations based on justice and legal certainty. The research employs a socio-legal research design with an empirical approach, focusing on examining the operation of law within society, particularly in the jurisdiction of Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Primary data were obtained through in-depth interviews with key informants, including corruption court judges, public prosecutors, investigators, legal practitioners, and legal academics. The sampling technique used purposive sampling, and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive qualitative methods through data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that the current bribery sentencing regulations are ineffective due to normative ambiguity between bribery and gratification, procedural conflicts between sting operations (OTT) and reporting rights under Article 12C, and sentencing disparities caused by the wide range of criminal sanctions. These conditions are further influenced by weaknesses in legal substance, absence of nationally binding sentencing guidelines, and intervention of non-legal factors such as public opinion pressure and pragmatic considerations in asset recovery. As a solution, this study proposes the "Integrative-Progressive Sentencing System" model through three main pillars: normative reconstruction via a Triple-Layer Delict classification, procedural synchronization through a Pre-OTT Filter mechanism, and strengthening sanctions through institutionalized sentencing guidelines and implementation of "economic and political death" sanctions for perpetrators. This reconstruction aims to shift the sentencing paradigm from merely punitive physical sanctions toward substantive justice restoration that aligns with the welfare state concept. Such regulatory reconstruction is expected to strengthen the effectiveness of anti-corruption law enforcement and enhance public trust in the justice system.