CRIMINAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO THE WILD TRADE OF SISIC SHELL TURTLE IN FORM OF HANDYCRAFTS

Abstract

The Convention of International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) defines wildlife as all animals
and plants, while crime is defined as an act that is contrary to national law and the provisions regarding the
protection and management of natural resources (including the provisions of CITES). So the illegal trade of
hawksbill turtles that have been managed into accessories is a crime. Every person who hunts for hawksbill
carries out a criminal act, as regulated in Law 5/1990 concerning Conservation of Living Natural Resources and
Ecosystems, and PP 7/1999 concerning Preservation of Plant and Animal Species. This mixing of empirical and
normative juridical research aims to study and analyze law enforcement policies on the free trade of hawksbill
shells in the form of accessories in Kupang City, as well as legal protection efforts on hawksbill turtles in order
to support turtle conservation in NTT Province through institutions in Kupang City. The police have the
authority to enforce the law through Criminal Law, so that every activity in trading, storing and
possessing protected animal skins or items made from these parts, in this case hawksbill leather made
in the form of accessories is an activity which needs to be upheld by the Criminal Law by the police.
Guided by Barda Nawawi Arif's opinion on criminal policy, then criminal and non-penal criminal
policies are enforcement actions that need to be done by the police in order to protect hawksbill. Penal
policy is carried out through cracking down on every alleged criminal act of trafficking and
preservation of hawksbill using the mechanism of Criminal Procedure, while non-penal policy is
carried out through repressive efforts, by encouraging community participation in assisting
government officials, especially the police in carrying out law enforcement against criminal acts
illegal trade in hawksbill turtles. In reality, the enforcement of criminal law against the free trade of
hawksbill shells in the form of accessories in Kupang City has not been carried out optimally because
it is still limited to investigations on the part of the Prosecutor's Office. It is also known that although
the Provincial Government has the authority by law to protect hawksbill, the NTT Provincial
Government has not made efforts to protect the sea turtles in order to support the conservation of
biological natural resources and their ecosystems.
Keyword: enforcement of criminal law, wild trade