Ridwan Kusuma Mawardani
dishonorable Discharge (PTDH) is the most severe administrative sanction for Civil Servants (PNS) proven to have committed corruption. This study aims to analyze the implementation of PTDH for corrupt civil servants and identify the obstacles in its execution. Using a normative legal research method with statutory, conceptual, and case study approaches, this study examines the effectiveness of PTDH through Lawrence M. Friedman's Legal System Theory, which includes legal substance, legal structure, and legal culture. The results show that, in terms of substance, the PTDH norm is strictly regulated in Government Regulation Number 17 of 2020. However, its implementation faces juridical, administrative, institutional, and socio-political obstacles, as reflected in the case of the delayed execution of PTDH for five civil servants in Mukomuko Regency. This phenomenon proves the existence of a gap between law in the books and law in action. Friedman's perspective explains that the failure of PTDH is caused by weaknesses in the legal structure (apparatus/executing institutions) and legal culture (integrity/ethics of the apparatus). This study concludes that the effectiveness of PTDH can only be achieved through synergy between firm legal substance, professional legal structure, and a legal culture that upholds the integrity of state apparatus.