What Does The Meaning of Legal Fiction?

It is often found that, there are violations of provisions that apply in social life, however  the violater does not feel that the action he has committed is a violation of the provisions stipulated in the law. So what will happen if the violater truly does not know that the action he has committed is a violation of the law? Can he be declared free from all legal consequences?

The principle of Legal Fiction assumes that when a statutory regulation has been enacted, at that time everyone is considered to know (presumption iures de iure) and these provisions are binding so that a person's ignorance of the law cannot free/forgive him/her from lawsuits (ignorantia jurist non excusat).

The principle of legal fiction means that everyone is considered to have known the applicable law, although it is difficult to prove that everyone has known the rules.

Therefore based on the aforementioned explanation, even though a person is not aware of the applicable regulations, that person cannot free himself from legal charges. However, this also does not release the Government of its obligation to disseminate information to the public regarding the existence of new laws or regulations.

Suria Nataadmadja & Associates Law Firm

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