Pro Juventute dan perkembangan hukum serta penanganan anak dan remaja nakal di Hindia Belanda

Abstract

Delinquent and neglected children constituted a complex social problem in the Dutch East Indies during the early Ethical Policy era. Initially, juvenile offenders were prosecuted under the same legal framework as adults. Growing awareness of the need for child protection led to the enactment of a juvenile criminal law in 1901, marking a pivotal shift in legal policy. This study aims to analyze the emergence and development of juvenile criminal law during the colonial period and to examine the role of social institutions in managing delinquent and neglected children. Employing a historiographic methodology with a social history approach, this research draws on archival records and contemporary sources to reconstruct legal and social practices. The findings reveal a significant paradigm shift in juvenile justice policy—from punitive treatment equivalent to adults toward a rehabilitative and re-educative approach following the introduction of juvenile criminal law in 1901. Furthermore, philanthropic social institutions such as Pro Juventute played a vital role in supplementing state efforts by establishing systems of supervision, skills education, and social rehabilitation. These findings demonstrate that the juvenile justice initiatives in the Dutch East Indies laid the foundational framework for the development of the juvenile criminal justice system in post-independence Indonesia.