Reconstruction of the Legal Standing of Pretrial Applicants Regarding Postponement of Case Handling Without Legitimate Reasons under the New Criminal Procedure Code

The postponement of criminal case handling without a valid reason constitutes a new issue in Indonesian criminal procedural law following the enactment of Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code, which recognizes such postponement as one of the objects of pretrial proceedings under Article 158 letter e. The issue arises because the application of this provision is closely related to the legal standing of the applicant as regulated in Article 1 number 15, while the postponement of case handling may give rise to different legal interests among suspects, victims, reporters, family members, and parties acting under power. This study aims to analyze the construction of the legal standing of the pretrial applicant regarding the postponement of case handling without a valid reason and to formulate a reconstruction of legal standing that provides legal certainty. The study employs a normative juridical method with statutory and analytical approaches. The results of the study indicate that the applicable regulations have determined the category of applicant subjects, but have not provided adequate operational parameters regarding direct legal interests in its application to Article 158 letter e. Case Number 69/PUU-XXIV/2026 at the Constitutional Court shows the actuality of this problem. The reconstruction is directed at a legal standing model based on direct legal interests, with parameters including the applicant's legal relationship, the existence of a postponement, and the direct impact on the applicant's legal rights or interests.