This study aims to examine the strength of the legal basis in handling criminal acts of embezzlement at the investigative stage based on restorative justice. Restorative justice is a concept of thinking that responds to the development of the criminal justice system by focusing on the need for the involvement of perpetrators and victims who feel excluded from the mechanism of the criminal justice system nowadays.
The type of research used in this research is normative legal research. The materials used consist of primary legal materials, secondary legal materials, and tertiary legal materials. The research approaches used in analyzing consist of the Statute and Conceptual Approach.
The results of this research show the legal basis for solving cases of embezzlement through a restorative justice approach at the investigation stage which refers to Article 16 Paragraph (2) and Article 18 Law No. 2 of 2022 concerning The State Police of the Republic of Indonesia, known as discretion, and The Republic of Indonesia National Police Regulation No. 8 of 2021 concerning The Handling of Criminal Acts based on Restorative Justice still does not have the force of law, because it contradicts the Law No. 8 of 1981 concerning the Criminal Procedure which is the legal protection in handling criminal cases including the crime of embezzlement.