This research emphasizes the shift from the archaic trend of applying corporal
punishment to other types of humane punishment in pre-modern periods. This
phenomenon occurred not only in the Western world but also in the Eastern and
Islamic worlds. One of them was the criminal law contained in the Banten Law
(UUB), which was implemented in the Banten sultanate between the 18th and 19th
centuries. Islamic criminal law in the form of qisas and hudud sanctions was no
longer applied in Banten, but was replaced with more humane fines or diyat
sanctions. Was the criminal law reform in the sultanate of Banten influenced by
developments in Western law? One of the explanations given in the UUB was that
the sultan of Banten employed the view of the Maliki school of thought, which
allowed the ruler the right to impose takzir on criminal cases that had been resolved
by Islamic law sanctions. The legal case for using diyat sanctions instead of qisas
and hudud punishments was more substantial if takzir punishment was employed.
This study used data in the form of UUB manuscript (single text) with the code
number LOr 5598. The legal texts in UUB were analyzed using a legal social history
approach. This study concludes that the application of law in UUB has dogmatic
reasons for Islamic criminal law and the interests of siyasa syar'yah.