Article Details
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2026): August
Deferred Prosecution Agreement in Corporate Fraud Cases: Evidence from State Loss Recovery Mechanisms
Abstract
Purpose: This study examines whether the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, an instrument developed to resolve corporate fraud, bribery, and money laundering cases in the United States, United Kingdom, and France, can be adapted into Indonesian criminal procedure to optimize recovery of state financial losses caused by corruption and economic crime.
Research Methodology: The research applies a normative juridical method combining comparative and conceptual approaches, examining statutory materials, international instruments, and doctrinal literature on deferred prosecution, corporate criminal liability, and restorative justice.
Results: Indonesia possesses substantial normative grounds for adopting a Deferred Prosecution Agreement, anchored in its ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the prosecutorial opportunity principle already recognized in national procedure, and compatibility with Pancasila values emphasizing corrective rather than purely retributive justice. Significant obstacles nonetheless persist, including the absence of explicit statutory authorization, the risk of prosecutorial abuse of discretion, and a legal culture still oriented toward retributive punishment.
Conclusions: An Indonesian model should combine the prosecutorial flexibility of the American approach with the judicial oversight of the British model and the compliance-monitoring rigor of the French approach.
Limitations: The doctrinal design has not been tested against empirical prosecutorial data or comparative field interviews.
Contributions: The study offers a synchronization framework linking prosecutorial discretion, judicial supervision, and corporate governance reform relevant to legislative drafting for state loss recovery.
Keywords
References
- Alschuler, A. W. (2015). Deferred prosecution agreements: An unfinished chapter in corporate criminal law. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 2015(1), 423-460.
- Arlen, J. (2016). The potential promise and perils of introducing deferred prosecution agreements outside the U.S. University of Chicago Law Review, 82(1), 231-278.
- Ashworth, A. (2022). Principles of criminal law (9th ed.).
- Asshiddiqie, J. (2020). Konstitusi dan negara hukum (Constitution and the state of law). Rajawali Pers.
- Ayres, I., & Braithwaite, J. (1992). Responsive regulation: Transcending the deregulation debate.
- Braithwaite, J. (2002). Restorative justice and responsive regulation.
- Clarke, B. (2016). Deferred prosecution agreements: A U.K. perspective. Journal of Business Law, 2016(3), 215-232.
- Coffee, J. C. (2018). Corporate crime and punishment: The crisis of underenforcement. De Franco, G., Small, R. C., & Wahid, A. S. (2025). Determinants of and future violations following deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements in corporate criminal cases. Contemporary Accounting Research, 42(2), 1271-1297. https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.13039
- Faharuddin, R., & Hakim, J. (2023). Restorative justice for corruption cases the settlement of corruption cases: Is it possible? Yuridika, 38(1), 73-94. https://doi.org/10.20473/ydk.v38i1.42511 Friedman, L. M. (2001). American law in the 20th century. Yale University Press.
- Garrett, B. L. (2014). Too big to jail: How prosecutors compromise with corporations. Harvard University Press.
- Gottschalk, P. (2022). Trusted chief executives in convenient white-collar crime. Crime & Delinquency. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221104737
- Gottschalk, P. (2023). The national authority in Norway is no serious economic crime office anymore? An empirical study of press releases. Journal of Economic Criminology, 1, Article 100021. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.econc.2023.100021
- Gottschalk, P. (2024). Impression management following investigation and prosecution scandal in Norwegian police: A review of press releases. Policing and Society. Advance online publication. ht tps://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2024.2302612
- Helfer, L. R., Rose, C., & Brewster, R. (2023). Flexible institution building in the international anticorruption regime: Proposing a transnational asset recovery mechanism. American Journal of International Law, 117(4), 559-600. https://doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2023.32
- Laufer, W. S. (2018). The missing account of progressive corporate criminal law. New Criminal Law Review, 21(2), 196-262. https://doi.org/10.1525/nclr.2018.21.2.196
- Lord, N. (2017). Regulating corporate bribery in international business: Anti-corruption in the UK and Germany. Crime, Law and Social Change, 68(2), 175-196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-017-97 29-9
- Marzuki, P. M. (2021). Penelitian hukum (Legal research). Prenada Media.
- Mayora Pranata, F. A., Setiono, J., & Fadri, I. (2025). Asset recovery mechanisms in transnational corruption cases: Legal frameworks and international cooperation challenges. Jurnal Greenation Sosial dan Politik, 3(3), 605-614. https://doi.org/10.38035/jgsp.v3i3.442
- Parameshwara, & Riza, K. (2023). Tindak pidana korupsi dalam konteks pertanggungjawaban pidana korporasi. Jurnal Studi Multidisiplin Ilmu, 1(1), 25-34. https://doi.org/10.35912/jasmi.v1i1.1973
- Parker, M. J., & Dodge, M. (2022). An exploratory study of deferred prosecution agreements and the adjudication of corporate crime. Journal of Financial Crime, 30(4), 940-954. https://doi.org/10.11 08/JFC-06-2022-0122
- Respationo, S. (2022). Politik hukum (Legal politics). Zahira.
- Respationo, S., & Hamzah, M. G. (2023). Putusan hakim: Menuju rasionalitas hukum reflektif dalam penegakan hukum. Jurnal Yustisia, 2(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.20961/yustisia.v2i2.10194
- Sakellaraki, A. (2022). EU asset recovery and confiscation regime: Quo vadis? A first assessment of the Commission's proposal to further harmonise the EU asset recovery and confiscation laws. New Journal of European Criminal Law, 13(4), 478-501. https://doi.org/10.1177/20322844221139577
- Sarra, J., Madaus, S., & Mevorach, I. (2023). Chasing assets abroad: Ideas for more effective asset tracing and recovery in cross-border insolvency. International Insolvency Review, 32(2), 253-288. https://doi.org/10.1002/iir.1499
- Srivastava, A. (2023). Governance in financial institutions: Key elements and preventing the failures. Asian Journal of Economics and Banking, 7(3), 424-434. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEB-05-2022-0 049
- Sutedi, A. (2018). Hukum kepailitan (Bankruptcy law). Sinar Grafika. Transparency International. (2023). Corruption perceptions index 2023. Transparency International. Unger, B., & Ferwerda, J. (2011). Money laundering: A global perspective. Edward Elgar Publishing. United Nations. (2004). United Nations Convention against Corruption.
- Wattoo, A. (2025). Corporate governance and legal compliance. International Journal of Law and Policy, 3(12), 27-48. https://doi.org/10.59022/ijlp.461
