Reconstruction of Legislative Members' Term Rules Based on the Principle of Justice

The presence of the House of Representatives in Indonesia's constitutional system significantly supports the development of democracy, as they serve as the people's representatives and voice. Currently, it is essential to implement term restrictions for legislative members, primarily for societal benefit. This study addresses the following research problems: Why is the current rule of legislative members' terms not just? What are the weaknesses of the current legislative term rules? How should the rule of legislative members' terms be reconstructed based on the principle of justice? Employing a constructivism paradigm, this research uses a sociological juridical approach and a descriptive research type. Data sources include primary data from field research and secondary data from primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials. Data collection methods encompass observation, interviews, and literature study, with qualitative data analysis. The findings indicate that the current rule of legislative members' terms is unjust due to the lack of term restrictions, leading to increased risks of corruption, bribery, collusion, and nepotism. Weaknesses in existing rules on criminal sanctions for corruption, bribery are evident in the legal substance, structure, and culture. The legal substance lacks clear provisions on term restrictions, and the legal structure fails to address the urgency of implementing term restrictions for House of Representatives of Indonesia’s and Regional Representative Council members. Additionally, there is a need to raise public awareness about the importance of term restrictions for legislative members. The study suggests reconstructing criminal sanctions rules against corruption, bribery based on justice values, which involves revising both values and norms. This includes transforming previously unjust rules into just ones and amending the legislative term rules according to the principle of justice, as outlined in Law No. 7 on 2017 concerning General Elections, Articles 240(1) and 248.