The purpose of this paper is to analyze the terminology of confession of guilt in the Qanun Jinayat
Aceh, both material and formal law. This topic needs to be studied considering that Qanun Jinayat is
seen as a new legal norm in Indonesia, which was adopted from a different legal system, namely Islamic
jurisprudence. The difference in the source of this system gives rise to many problems with legal norms
and their enforcement in cases. Research on the decisions of the Syar'iyah Court in Aceh in the adultery
case; carried out using a normative juridical approach, by reviewing the Qanun viewed from legal
norms, confession of guilt. The results of the study show that (1) juridically, confession gets an official
place as special evidence for adultery; referring to the Koran; (2) the confession of guilt by the alleged
perpetrators of adultery is influenced by the initial process of their arrest as the perpetrators of the crime;
in part it may be an encouragement of the belief in obtaining forgiveness stemming from the Islamic
religious doctrine that punishment in this world is a pardon and will abolish punishment in the
hereafter; (3) the strategy of law enforcement officials does not play much role here because some of
their duties have been "implemented" by the community which is understood as part of their legal
awareness.