Implementation Challenge Analysis Restorative Justice for Child Narcotics Offenders in Merauke in a Review Lawrence M. Friedman's Legal System Theory

Abstract

This study aims to identify and analyze the challenges of implementing restorative justice for child drug offenders in Merauke using Lawrence M. Friedman's legal system theory. This type of research is empirical legal research. The results of the study indicate that the implementation of Restorative Justice (diversion) for child drug offenders at the Merauke Police Station is low, where data shows that 92.8 % of cases from 2021-2023 continued to formal justice. Based on Lawrence M. Friedman's Legal System Theory, three main obstacles were found: (1) Legal Substance, namely the normative conflict between the Narcotics Law and the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Law where the imposition of articles with a criminal threat of more than seven years automatically invalidates the diversion requirement; (2) Legal Structure, in the form of the absence of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) at the Regency level and the absence of adequate special rehabilitation facilities for children in Merauke; and (3) Legal Culture, characterized by the strong negative stigma in society that labels children as dealers, thus hindering the process of social reintegration. The lack of synchronization between these three pillars makes it difficult to realize the principle of ultimum remedium in handling children who come into conflict with narcotics law.