Indonesia's parliament approved a controversial new criminal code on banning extramarital sex

Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter | Indonesia's parliament approved a controversial new criminal code on Tuesday that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year imprisonment, part of a raft of legal changes that critics say undermine civil liberties in the world's third-largest democracy. 

The new code is applicable to the Indonesians and foreigners alike, will also prohibit cohabitation between unmarried couples. 

The new laws apply to Indonesians and foreigners and also restore a ban on insulting the president, state institutions or Indonesia’s national ideology known as Pancasila. 

The new Indonesian criminal code, approved on Tuesday is a replacement of a framework that had been in use since 1946 independence and was a mix of Dutch law, a customary law known as hukum adat, and modern Indonesian law.

"The old code belongs to Dutch heritage ... and is no longer relevant now," Bambang Wuryanto, head of the parliamentary commission in charge of revising the code told lawmakers.

However, the code will not be in effect immediately, needs three years to allow for implementing regulations to be drafted.

Opponents of the bill have highlighted articles they say are socially regressive, will curb free speech and represent a "huge setback" in ensuring the retention of democratic freedoms after the fall of authoritarian leader Suharto in 1998.

Responding to the criticism, Indonesia's Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly told parliament: "It's not easy for a multicultural and multi-ethnic country to make a criminal code that can accommodate all interests."

Lawmakers have since diluted down some of the provisions with President Joko Widodo urging parliament to pass the bilthis year, before the country's political climate heats up ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for early 2024.