Government seeking to unite lawyers into one association<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Soedjono Chanafiah Atmonegoro
\nurged Minister of Justice Muladi yesterday to attempt to unite
\ndisparate groups of lawyers into a single unified association.<\/p>\n
\"It should be the justice minister's homework to facilitate
\nthe establishment of a single association for lawyers,\" Soedjono
\ntold the media after meeting with President Soeharto at his Jl.
\nCendana residence in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He said a unified association would facilitate supervision and
\ncommunication with lawyers.<\/p>\n
A single association for every profession is mandated by 1985
\nlegislation on mass organizations. For example, the government
\nrecognizes only one association of journalists -- the Indonesian
\nJournalists Association -- and one labor union, the Federation of
\nAll-Indonesia Workers Union.<\/p>\n
Uniting lawyers has proven to be more difficult. Some analysts
\nhave attributed the problems to divergence of interests of many
\npeople in the government.<\/p>\n
The first attempt at uniting the various lawyers organizations
\nwas in 1985 with the establishment of the Indonesian Bar
\nAssociation (Ikadin), which came about at the initiative of the
\nthen chief justice and minister of justice.<\/p>\n
It was ultimately beset by internal disputes and, five years
\nlater, 135 of its 850 members resigned to form a rival
\norganization, the Indonesian Advocates' Association (AAI), with
\nthe blessing of the minister of justice of the time.<\/p>\n
Previously, in 1987 a group of young lawyers, disgruntled at
\nbeing denied membership in Ikadin, established the Association of
\nIndonesian Lawyers (IPHI).<\/p>\n
In 1991, with the support of the then ministers of justice and
\nhome affairs, AAI and five other lawyers' organizations -- IPHI,
\nLBPH Kosgoro, BPKH MKGR, LKBH Trisula and LPPH -- joined forces
\nto establish the Association of Indonesian Lawyers Organizations
\n(Poperi). (imn\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-seeking-to-unite-lawyers-into-one-association-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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