Finishing touches being put on bankruptcy law amendments<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government will submit its draft of
\namendments to the 1998 Bankruptcy Law to the House of
\nRepresentative in August, according to Minister of Law and
\nLegislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra.<\/p>\n
Yusril said here on Friday the draft amendment would receive a
\nfinal touch next Wednesday. Following this, the government will
\ngive the public the opportunity to comment on the amendment
\nthrough a month-long series of seminars and debates before the
\ndraft is submitted to the House for deliberation in August.<\/p>\n
\"An important new item being added to the final draft
\namendment is the dissenting opinion clause,\" he said during a
\nmeeting with the Bankruptcy Litigation Lawyers Club (BLLC) at his
\noffice.<\/p>\n
He said the final draft amendment stipulated verdicts reached
\nby judges of the Bankruptcy Court must also contain the
\ndissenting opinions of judges opposed to the verdicts.<\/p>\n
Court cases in Indonesia are decided by a panel of three
\njudges. Under the current law, the court verdicts sometimes only
\nreflect the opinion of two judges. If the third judge does not
\nagree with the ruling, he or she must still sign the verdict.<\/p>\n
Yusril said the legal system in Indonesia as a whole had not
\nadopted the practice of issuing dissenting opinions, but because
\nthe bankruptcy court was special an exemption had been made.<\/p>\n
\"We made a special law for those courts which handle special
\ncases such as bankruptcy cases,\" Yusril told members of BLLC and
\nseveral journalists.<\/p>\n
He said dissenting opinions also would be issued at the
\nSupreme Court level for bankruptcy cases.<\/p>\n
The idea of issuing dissenting opinions arose after the first
\nfour independent ad hoc judges appointed by the government in
\nearly 1999 refused to serve in the Bankruptcy Court if
\ndissenting opinions were not made known to the public.<\/p>\n
The government was unable to meet this demand because it was
\nnot accommodated in Indonesia's legal system.<\/p>\n
The normal procedure for Indonesian courts is for dissenting
\nopinions to be kept in a confidential court book, and the process
\nby which the judges reach a verdict is not disclosed because this
\nis believed to have the potential to create further arguments and
\nconfusion.<\/p>\n
However, dissenting opinions recorded in the confidential
\ncourt book are attached to the verdict documents of cases
\nappealed to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The members of BLLC agreed with Yusril the dissenting opinion
\nclause was necessary to add transparency to the process of court
\ndecisions.<\/p>\n
\"Such a dissenting opinion clause is important to prevent KKN
\n(acronym for corruption, collusion and nepotism) in the courts,\"
\nsaid Denny Kailimang.<\/p>\n
Denny also said the bankruptcy law should strengthen the
\ncapital market law, which was designed to protect the interests
\nof investors.<\/p>\n
\"There was one case in the past where public investors were
\nstill trading the shares of a company that was already on the
\nverge of bankruptcy,\" he said, adding that those investors who
\nbought shares suffered great losses.<\/p>\n
He said the bankruptcy law should provide leverage to allow
\ncapital market watchdog Bapepam and the Jakarta Stock Exchange
\n(JSX) to take prompt action against companies under the threat of
\nbankruptcy.<\/p>\n
BLLC chairman Hotman Paris Hutapea said the bankruptcy law
\nshould clearly stipulate when the JSX must suspend or delist
\ncompanies entangled in the bankruptcy courts.<\/p>\n
\"Can they (JSX) take action on the lower courts' bankruptcy
\nrulings or do they have to wait until the Supreme Court's
\nruling,\" he asked?<\/p>\n
Hotman also added the Indonesian bankruptcy law was too
\nliberal, saying one small creditor could file a bankruptcy
\npetition against a company.<\/p>\n
\"Our bankruptcy law is more liberal than that of the United
\nStates, which requires the consent of the majority creditors to
\nfile a bankruptcy petition against a company,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another practicing bankruptcy lawyer, Lucas, said the current
\nbankruptcy law fell short of properly stipulating the authority
\nof a private court receiver.<\/p>\n
\"The court receiver, especially for a bankrupt public company,
\nis confused by all the complications arising from the lack of
\nsynchronicity between the bankruptcy law and the existing capital
\nmarket regulations and rules,\" Lucas said.<\/p>\n
\"These complications have in fact made the court receiver
\nafraid of taking the necessary action to do its job,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The court receiver is an independent party -- required to be a
\nbankruptcy lawyer or a public accountant -- appointed to take
\nover the management of a company declared bankrupt or under the
\nthreat of bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
The court receiver also must manage the liquidation of a
\nbankrupt company.(udi)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/finishing-touches-being-put-on-bankruptcy-law-amendments-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}