Protecting Socioeconomically Vulnerable Defendants: Poverty Criminalization in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Study Objectives: This article examines how Indonesian and Saudi Arabian criminal justice frameworks protect, or fail to protect, defendants whose socio-economic vulnerability shapes their exposure to the criminal process and punishment.
Method/Approach: It uses normative legal research, including statute, conceptual, and functional comparative approaches.
Novelty: This study advances a social vulnerability-sensitive criminal justice model of poverty.
Findings: The study finds a shared formal commitment to defense rights but divergent institutional designs. Indonesia now combines a statutory legal-aid scheme with the 2025 Criminal Procedure Code, which requires officials to inform indigent persons of legal-aid rights and appoint counsel in specified cases. The 2023 Criminal Code also provides a stronger foundation for individualized and non-custodial sentencing. Saudi Arabia recognizes the accused’s right to counsel during investigation and trial and provides a state-funded appointment route in serious crimes, but that route depends on a request, judicial verification of indigence, and a serious-crime threshold. Neither system expressly requires a court to assess the poverty-related consequences of prosecution, fines, detention, or imprisonment.
Conclusion: Defense rights require meaningful access to defense, an ability-to-pay review, a custody-necessity test, written reasons that address social impact, and, where proportionate, restorative or community-based responses.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Adesanya, Abdulmateen. “&Nbsp;Analysis of the Rights of an Accused Under the Criminal Justice in Nigeria.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2025. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5926264.
Alcântara Mendes, Josimar Antônio de, and Thomas Ormerod. “Uncertainty in Child Custody Cases After Parental Separation: Context and Decision-Making Process.” Trends in Psychology 33, no. 1 (January 10, 2023): 177–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43076-022-00253-9.
Ali, Niaz, Mohamad Ahmad Saleem Khasawneh, Ammara Murtaza, Mehboob Ul Hassan, Tanveer Iqbal, Amna Saeed, Mumtaz Akhter, and Abid Hussain. “Shattered Dreams, Reclaimed Futures: Social Stratification Affecting at-Risk and out-of-School Children and Addressing Strategies for Reintegration into Formal Schooling.” International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 31, no. 1 (December 31, 2026). https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2026.2665210.
Amelya, Siska. “Reconstructing the Sentencing Framework for Minor Offenses through Restorative Justice: Toward Substantive Justice.” Journal of Law, Politic and Humanities 6, no. 4 (May 6, 2026): 2356–67. https://doi.org/10.38035/jlph.v6i4.3194.
Aslam, Kalsoom, Mirza Muhammad Kazam Raza, Zahra Athar, Meera Fazal, and Anfal Javed. “Climate Justice and Migration: Experiences of Flood-Induced Women in Ravi River Basin, Lahore.” ACADEMIA International Journal for Social Sciences 5, no. 3(s5) (March 3, 2026): 25–58. https://doi.org/10.63056/academia.5.3(s5).2026.1953.
Bakhtiar, Handar Subhandi, Amir Ilyas, Abdul Kholiq, and Handina Sulastrina Bakhtiar. “The Utilisation of Scientific Crime Investigation Methods and Forensic Evidence in the Criminal Investigation Process in Indonesia.” Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences 15, no. 1 (May 29, 2025): 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41935-025-00456-y.
Balarabe, Kasim. “Rethinking Institutional Legitimacy and the Future of Responsive Governance.” Jindal Global Law Review 16, no. 2 (December 15, 2025): 461–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-025-00282-2.
Behuku, Jitro Gianfranco, Jevine Ilonesia Kusuma, Nabila Uswatun Chasanah, Fajar Sugianto, and Astrid Athina Indradewi. “The Judge’s Role in the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Enforcement in Indonesia: A Juridical Analysis.” SIGn Jurnal Hukum 7, no. 1 (July 30, 2025): 351–67. https://doi.org/10.37276/sjh.v7i1.464.
Bortner, Dolan. “Private Inequity: Business-Law Solutions for Better PE Health Care.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2025. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5254721.
Bracanović, Tomislav. “Sentencing Algorithms and Equal Consideration of Interests.” Ethics & Bioethics 15, no. 3–4 (December 1, 2025): 246–58. https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2025-0015.
Cleen, Benjamin De. “‘Populism’ and the Far-Right Capture of Liberal-Democratic Signifiers.” Social Semiotics 36, no. 1 (January 15, 2026): 64–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2025.2601617.
Cohen-Rimer, Yael. “‘Poverty Has Nothing to Do with It’: Criministrative Law and a Call for Poverty Awareness in Child Protection Procedures in Israeli Juvenile Courts.” Law & Social Inquiry, February 13, 2026, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/lsi.2026.10135.
Coppola, Federica. “From Liberty to Belonging: Rethinking the Pain of Punishment.” Criminal Law and Philosophy, April 17, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11572-026-09799-6.
Courson, Olivier. “Can We Delegate the Function of Judging to AI Systems Under the Rule of Law? A Three-Level Analysis of Structural Incompatibility,” 2025. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5930016.
Deitch, Brittany. “Paying For The Crime And The Time:&Nbsp; Pay-To-Stay Laws And Constitutional Limits.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2026. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6132466.
Ding, Bo, Run Zhao, Xinyi Yue, and Dexun Li. “Regional Differences, Distributional Dynamics and Spatial Convergence of Pharmacist Human Resources in China: A Healthcare Tiers Difference Perspective.” Risk Management and Healthcare Policy Volume 18 (August 2025): 2769–85. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S534923.
Dubynskyy, Oleg, Ihor Dubynskyi, and Olha Nabokova. “Constitutional Guarantees For The Protection Of Human Rights And Freedoms In Ukraine: Economic And Legal Aspect.” Baltic Journal of Economic Studies 12, no. 1 (February 17, 2026): 163–72. https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2026-12-1-163-172.
Erasmus, Mayr. “Wronging the Victim: The Role of Directed Obligations in the Criminal Law.” Criminal Law and Philosophy 20, no. 2 (July 29, 2026): 233–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11572-025-09781-8.
Erdianti, Ratri Novita, Jessica Widya Larossa, Muhamad Helmi Md. Said, and Said Noor Prasetyo. “Challenging Custodial Dominance: Community Service As a Transformative Penal Model in National Criminal Law Modernization.” Justitia Jurnal Hukum 10, no. 1 (March 4, 2026). https://doi.org/10.30651/justitia.v10i1.29576.
Frase, Richard S. “Michael Tonry And Sentencing Proportionality.” Criminal Law Forum 36, no. 2 (June 20, 2025): 167–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-025-09511-8.
Ganjar Patria Lugina, Rahmat Abdullah, Pujiyono, Sukirno, and Ota Musashi. “Constitutional Recognition of Living Law in Criminal Law: A Comparative Study of Indonesia and Southeast Asia.” As-Siyasi: Journal of Constitutional Law 6, no. 1 (June 25, 2026): 153–76. https://doi.org/10.24042/as-siyasi.v61.30999.
Ganty, Sarah. “Poverty in Judgecraft: New Narratives through the Language of Equality.” German Law Journal 26, no. 2 (March 1, 2025): 170–97. https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2025.6.
Grigoleit-Richter, Grit. “Propertied Bodies: Race, Welfare, and the Carceral State the Texas Way.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 49, no. 10 (July 27, 2026): 2188–2205. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2025.2607619.
Gunawan, Teng Junaidi, and Maria Grasia Sari Soetopo Conboy. “Deterrence Without Rationality: Economic Analysis of the US Sentencing Guidelines and Lessons for Post-Socialist Criminal Justice Reform.” Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, December 26, 2025, 2899–2910. https://doi.org/10.64753/jcasc.v10i4.3682.
Hamja, Hamja. “Community-Based Correction (CBC): Efforts to Achieve a Balance Between Rehabilitation and Social Justice.” Jurnal Pembangunan Hukum Indonesia 7, no. 1 (April 8, 2025): 137–49. https://doi.org/10.14710/jphi.v7i1.137-149.
Heyman, Miriam, Frank Li, Luci Duffy, and Monika Mitra. “Housing Stability for Disabled Parents in the United States: Estimates from the American Community Survey.” Housing and Society, January 7, 2026, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/08882746.2025.2610133.
Huebner, Beth M., and Kathryn Tapp. “Prosecutorial Power in Probation: Discretion, Violations, and the Pathway to Incarceration.” Criminology & Public Policy 25, no. 2 (May 9, 2026): 379–402. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.70025.
Hummel, Callan, Ashley Mayfaire, Jasmine Mckenzie, Beaux Ramos, Kathryn Nowotny, Charlton Copeland, and Kim-Phuong Truong-Vu. “Racialized Administrative Burdens and Barriers to Gender-Affirming Identity Documents in Florida.” Politics, Groups, and Identities, April 24, 2026, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2026.2659278.
“In Search of Resilience: A Case Study of Leadership in Challenging Times in an International School Setting.” University of San Diego, 2026. https://doi.org/10.22371/05.2026.001.
Irwan, Muhammad, Ali Rahman, and Amaliyah Amaliyah. “Judicial Law-Finding in the Criminal Justice System: Harmonizing Legal Certainty and Substantive Justice.” SIGn Jurnal Hukum 7, no. 2 (October 1, 2025): 647–63. https://doi.org/10.37276/sjh.v7i2.502.
“Is Poverty the Root of All Crime? Rethinking Criminality Amid Institutional Failure in Madagascar.” Kejahatan & Keadilan: Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia 1, no. 1 (January 25, 2025). https://doi.org/10.7454/kriminologi.v1.i1.1002.
Jang, Hayun, Kyungeun Song, and Jinho Kim. “Unraveling Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Life Course Pathways from Adverse Childhood Experiences to Economic Disadvantage in Adulthood.” Child Abuse & Neglect 167 (September 2025): 107595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107595.
Khaitan, Tarunabh, and Sandy Steel. “Theorizing Areas Of Law: A Taxonomy Of Special Jurisprudence.” Legal Theory 28, no. 4 (December 4, 2022): 325–51. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352325222000192.
Khalil, Sana. “Gender and Neighborhood Penalties in Karachi’s Information Technology Sector.” Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 119 (December 2025): 102469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2025.102469.
Kolomoitsev, Mykola. “Guarantees of Professional Activity of Defense Attorney in Criminal Proceedings.” Theory and Practice of Forensic Science and Criminalistics 39, no. 2 (August 9, 2025): 118–32. https://doi.org/10.32353/khrife.2.2025.09.
Kovarsky, Lee. “The Victims’ Rights Mismatch.” Michigan Law Review, no. 124.2 (2025): 305. https://doi.org/10.36644/mlr.124.2.victims.
Kumar, Anish. “Legal and Regulatory Frameworks Governing Generative AI for Enterprises.” In GenAI and LLMs for Beyond 5G Networks, 39–81. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06418-9_3.
Loupas, Marios Athanasios, Kostas Athanasakis, and Dimitris Zavras. “Willingness to Pay per QALY: A Systematic Review of Demand-Side Valuations with a Focus on Age and Disease Severity.” Applied Health Economics and Health Policy 24, no. 1 (January 17, 2026): 47–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-025-01005-3.
Luo, Songwu, Dongje Cho, and Jaehyun Cho. “When Advance Directives Clash with Family Consent: Designing an Operational Framework for End-of-Life Decision-Making in China and Korea.” BMC Medical Ethics 27, no. 1 (April 1, 2026): 92. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-026-01451-1.
Matiaško, Maroš. “Situational Perspective on Vulnerability in European Human Rights Law: Beyond Essentialism and Towards Structural Justice.” Nordic Journal of Human Rights 44, no. 2 (April 3, 2026): 153–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2026.2661166.
Maveal, Gary M. “Tracing the Origins of Michigan’s American Rule Denying Attorney Fees to Winners in Civil Litigation.” Michigan Historical Review 51, no. 1 (March 2025): 27–75. https://doi.org/10.1353/mhr.2025.a958285.
Mishra, Venkatesh, Bimsara Pathiraja, Mihir Parmar, Sat Chidananda, Jayanth Srinivasa, Gaowen Liu, Ali Payani, and Chitta Baral. “Investigating the Shortcomings of LLMs in Step-by-Step Legal Reasoning.” In Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: NAACL 2025, 7795–7826. Stroudsburg, PA, USA: Association for Computational Linguistics, 2025. https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2025.findings-naacl.435.
Nakhli, Seyyed Reza, and Meysam Rafei. “How Can Optimal Monetary Policies Reduce Oil Sanctions’ Impacts? Evidence from Iran.” Economic and Political Studies 13, no. 2 (April 3, 2025): 144–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/20954816.2024.2312759.
Nasoha, Ahmad Muhamad Mustain, Ashfiya Nur Atqiya, Imam Abdullah, Muhammad Nur Ukasyah, and Viror Ghufron Assaifi. “Criminal Law in Muslim-Majority Countries: Balancing Sharia, Human Rights, and Global Standards.” SHAHIH: Journal of Islamicate Multidisciplinary 10, no. 1 (June 2, 2025): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.22515/shahih.v10i1.10038.
Nerantzi, Elina, and Giovanni Sartor. “‘Hard AI Crime’: The Deterrence Turn.” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 44, no. 3 (September 3, 2024): 673–701. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/gqae018.
Nuroniyah, Wardah, Mohammad Azka Al Azkiya, Abdul Wahid, Fatimah Lubabiyah Labib Shodiq, and Bani Syarif Maula. “Assessing Indonesia and Malaysia’s Legal Responsiveness to Domestic Violence Victims within Islamic Law Framework.” Al-Manahij: Jurnal Kajian Hukum Islam, October 24, 2025, 247–70. https://doi.org/10.24090/mnh.v19i2.13736.
Otieno, Edwine Joshua Ochieng Otieno. “Cash Bail and Systemic Inequity.” National Security: A Journal of the National Defence University-Kenya 3, no. 1 (August 18, 2025): 87–106. https://doi.org/10.64403/majp0259.
Page, Joshua, and Christine S. Scott-Hayward. “Bail and Pretrial Justice in the United States: A Field of Possibility.” Annual Review of Criminology 5, no. 1 (January 13, 2022): 91–113. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-093024.
Perdana, Arif, Phoebe Li, and Grace Wangge. “Algorithmic Fairness in Context: Liberty, Opportunity, and Well-Being as Ethical Anchors.” AI and Ethics 6, no. 1 (February 14, 2026): 112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-025-00963-7.
Poama, Andrei. “Poverty, Provocation, and Punishment.” Criminal Law and Philosophy 19, no. 3 (October 24, 2025): 359–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11572-024-09747-2.
Qi, Siwei, Bin Han, Xiaoliang Zhu, Bao-Wen Yang, Tianyang Xing, Aiguo Liu, and Shenghui Liu. “Machine Learning in Critical Heat Flux Studies in Nuclear Systems: A Detailed Review.” Progress in Nuclear Energy 179 (January 2025): 105535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2024.105535.
Richardson, Benjamin J, Phillipa C McCormack, Sarah Brugler, and James A Fitzsimons. “Conservation Covenants: What Is the Role of Reciprocity?” Journal of Environmental Law 38, no. 2 (July 13, 2026): 196–221. https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqag006.
Roiphe, Rebecca, and Bruce A. Green. “Under Political Pressure: How Courts And Congress Can Help Prosecutors Do Justice,” 2025. Https://Doi.Org/10.2139/Ssrn.5382829.
Ryan, Phil. “Charles Taylor and the ‘Equality of Cultures.’” Society 62, no. 3 (June 12, 2025): 363–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-025-01069-w.
Sahat Maruli Tua Situmeang, Athari Farhani, Subagyo Sri Utomo, and Musa Darwin Pane. “Contemporary Human Rights Safeguards in Islamic Law Justice: A Comparative Study in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.” MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review 5, no. 1 (April 24, 2026): 575–610. https://doi.org/10.32332/milrev.v5i1.13066.
Sarwar, Saima, and Muhammad Ihsan. “Cost of Litigation and Its Impact on Socio-Economic Decisions of Households: A Transaction Cost Analysis from High Courts of Pakistan.” Public Organization Review, November 3, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-025-00947-5.
Setiyowati, Dyah Kusumaningtyas, Pujiyono Pujiyono, Irma Cahyaningtyas, and Putu George Matthew Simbolon. “The Dynamics of the System of Punitive Measures in the Reform of Indonesian Criminal Law The Transformation of the System of Punitive Measures in Indonesia’s New Criminal Code.” Jurnal Pembangunan Hukum Indonesia 8, no. 1 (April 28, 2026): 95–118. https://doi.org/10.14710/jphi.v8i1.95-118.
Sihombing, Lasmin Alfies. “Quo Vadis Legal Shielding: Examining the Abuse of Attorney Immunity as a Corporate Enabler in Indonesia’s Money Laundering Landscape.” Cogent Social Sciences 12, no. 1 (December 31, 2026). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2026.2637242.
Snyder, Edward (Ted) A., and D. Daniel Sokol. “The Fraying of Criminal Antitrust Enforcement,” 2025. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5193065.
Sotiriadis, Georgios. “Complement or Competition? The Relationship Between Deradicalization and Disengagement Work and Criminal Law.” In Disengagement and Deradicalization in the Context of Islamist Extremism, 321–47. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-49470-4_19.
Sugirman, Andi, Jumriani Nawawi, Hamzah, Irfan Amir, and Dinesha Samararatne. “Integration of Constitutional Law and Human Rights: A Comparative Study between Indonesia and South Africa.” Jurnal Suara Hukum 7, no. 1 (May 11, 2025): 274–97. https://doi.org/10.26740/jsh.v7n1.p274-297.
Suzuki, Masahiro, Akinori Otani, and Sho Sagara. “Between Condemnation and Compassion: Sentencing Narratives of Eldercide by Family Caregivers in Japanese Criminal Courts.” Punishment & Society, May 29, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1177/14624745261455041.
“The Role and Impact of Forensic Evidence in the Prosecution of Homicide Cases in the U.S.” Southern Methodist University, Dedmna School of Law, 2025. https://doi.org/10.25172/law_etds.1.
Vasileva, Vladisaya Bilyanova, and Noriyuki Kawano. “Atomic Bomb Survivors ( Hibakusha ) Studies and Transitional Justice Studies: Fostering Dialogue Between Fields.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 19, no. 3 (November 20, 2025): 463–79. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijaf009.
Weichbroth, Pawel. “AI and the Law: Evaluating ChatGPT’s Performance in Legal Classification,” 69–81, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-13869-9_6.
Wiyarso, Ardi, Yetti, and Anggara Putra. “Prospective Legal Concept On The Fulfillment Of Support Obligations For Convicted Persons.” Jilpr Journal Indonesia Law And Policy Review 6, No. 3 (June 30, 2025): 494–514. Https://Doi.Org/10.56371/Jirpl.V6i3.458.
Zhang, Lini, and Haidong Zhao. “From Excessive Spending to Debt Delinquency: Should We Blame Mobile Payments?” Computers in Human Behavior 165 (April 2025): 108533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108533.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21107/ri.v21i1.33355
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Rechtidee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Indexing and Abstracting:
