iajlIAJLIAJL2709-9490https://doi.org/10.47310/iajl.2021.v02i01.002Indonesian Law System: Pre Trial and Its ChallengesJaholdenThe legal principle underlying the pretrial is the presumption of innocence. That principle emphasizes that suspects have the right to obtain their rights through pretrial institutions. With sociological legal research, data collection was gathered from the pre-trial cases of Indonesian courts. Data obtained showed that the number of pre-trial applications from 2011 to 2015 was 155 pretrial cases in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. From 155 cases it found 145 were rejected, 9 were granted and only 1 application was revoked and no application was declared invalid. It concludes that the attention of judges in pretrial hearings tends to look only at the formal aspect rather than examining the material requirements. Secondly, judges tend to seek formal requirements rather than examining the material requirements in determining that a person is subject to arrest or detention.