The Role of Jurisprudence in the Development of Civil and Criminal Law

Abstract

Judgments of cassation-level courts that are already inkracht or jurisprudence as a source of law are still debatable in legal studies, notably the use of jurisprudence in judges’ legal considerations. Even though jurisprudence is quite constructive in providing reinforcement of the judge’s considerations in their decisions, jurisprudence can also be used as a legitimate legal statement, which can complement the legal void. The research aims to examine the position of jurisprudence in the national legal system and its role in the development of civil and criminal law. The method used in this research is normative legal research combined with the statutory and conceptual approaches. The outcomes of this research show that although jurisprudence is recognized as a source of law, it is not included in the hierarchy of laws and regulations. The application of jurisprudence is in fact in line with the mandate of Article 5 of Law Number 48 of 2009 concerning Judicial Power which states that judges and constitutional judges are compulsory to explore, follow, and comprehend legal values and a sense of justice that lives within the society. Therefore, it becomes important to consider the legal standing of jurisprudence in reinforcing and developing national law (civil and criminal).