Civil liability<\/p>\n
I refer to Peter A. Bell's article on the civil liability
\nsystem published in The Jakarta Post, Feb. 10.<\/p>\n
Many public transportation accidents have taken place besides
\nthe Gurita ferry catastrophe. Other accidents to which civil
\nliability rules apply are environmental pollution problems and
\nfood poisoning cases.<\/p>\n
As pointed out by Peter Bell, the Indonesian civil code
\ncontains rules, according to which the victims, or relatives of
\nthe victims, can sue the responsible, negligent parties in court.<\/p>\n
Closely related to the civil liability concept is the one
\nconcerning product liability -- which is almost unknown in
\nIndonesia -- according to which the seller must indemnify the
\nbuyer of goods that contain hidden defects as the result of
\nnegligence occurring in the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n
Alf Ross, in his book On Law and Justice (1958), says that
\nalthough legal norms exist, in the final analysis it is the
\napplication of the law by the courts that is decisive in
\ndetermining the effectiveness of the legal norms.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the effectiveness that signifies the validity of
\nthe norms must be sought solely in the judicial application of
\nthe law. This means that the decisions of the courts are the
\ndeterminant elements in the enhancement of the validity of any
\nbranch of the legal system.<\/p>\n
The law will lose its character of effective law if the legal
\nauthority fails to apply the corresponding sanctions.<\/p>\n
Thus, we can see that it is up to the judges to form the
\nappropriate machinery to play a decisive role in enhancing the
\nvalidity of any system of whatever branch of law, such as the
\ncivil liability system raised by Peter Bell.<\/p>\n
But what would happen with the civil liability system we are
\nyearning for if extra-judicial factors, such as signaled by
\nretired justice Bismar Siregar, happen to interfere? This is for
\nthe jurists to ponder and to answer.<\/p>\n
SAM SUHAEDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/civil-liability-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }