TENDENCIES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINAL LAW FORMAL DEFENSES RELATED TO IMMEDIATE ULTIMUM REMEDIUM

Abstract This research aims to explain Law no. 32 of 2019 concerning Environmental Protection and Management and explains the Job Creation Law no. 11 of 2020, where in enforcing environmental criminal law formal offenses are applied as an ultimum remedium. The research was conducted at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in 2019, using normative legal research methods relating to environmental issues which were analyzed qualitatively and conclusions were drawn deductively, namely general thinking to specific matters, so that the research results were that in enforcement of environmental criminal law, law enforcement officers tend to apply the primum remedium principle, so that the environment has not been polluted and/or damaged but the perpetrator is punished with a criminal sentence, even though in fact the environment can still be repaired, therefore an ultimum remedium principle is needed. For incidents like this, it is wise to first hand over the handling to the administrative law regime. So the procedural law must be very technical which does not give rise to multiple interpretations, detailed and clear and can be implemented. This is because formal offenses related to the principle of ultimum remedium must be applied. Because almost all law enforcement officers tend not to be able to distinguish between how formal and material offenses are applied in enforcing environmental criminal law. This correlates with cases of environmental pollution and/or destruction that are referred to the Court, there is no distinction in the application of formal offenses and material offenses, as if there is no meaning in the ultimum remedium principle in the UUPPLH. The existence of the ultimum remedium principle should accumulate with formal offenses which give rise to special procedural law. Special procedural laws must be obeyed in implementing these formal offenses. If this is ignored, the process of handling environmental cases could result in being null and void.