A solution for foreign lawyers

A solution for foreign lawyers

By T. Mulya Lubis

JAKARTA (JP): A number of Indonesian legal experts have lodged
strong protests against foreign lawyers working in Indonesia.
They maintain some foreign lawyers have been practicing in
Indonesia without permits from the Ministry of Justice.

The authorities are now looking into the matter.

However, it is not clear yet whether they have been working as
management or investment consultants.

It is not uncommon here to see prominent law firms located
next to limited liability companies where a number of foreign
lawyers work as management or investment consultants. Their work
is certainly related to the law.

It is no coincidence that the limited liability companies are
owned, directly or otherwise, by well-known international law
firms abroad. Hence, the names of the limited liability companies
are always connected with the names of the international law
firms, or at least their acronyms. This is well known especially
among the business community and legal experts.

The controversy about foreign lawyers is not new. It has been
the subject of many a heated debate among lawyers. However, in
general, Indonesian legal experts do not reject the presence of
foreign lawyers.

In this information age, foreign lawyers can always operate
from abroad through the Internet. Our airport gates are wide open
and foreign businessmen accompanied by their lawyers can always
operate from a hotel for one or two weeks.

A categorical rejection of foreign lawyers is clearly
unrealistic because Indonesia does not live in isolation. Foreign
lawyers even operate in Myanmar, a highly isolated country while
China, formerly strongly opposed to foreign lawyers, now allows
foreign law firms to open offices in the country.

Therefore Indonesia too cannot close its doors to the foreign
influx. Indonesian legal experts must prepare themselves to
compete with foreign lawyers. They cannot remain spoiled by
having the business field to themselves. Furthermore, Indonesian
legal experts must start going international, operating abroad.

The Indonesian government understands the importance of
foreign lawyers because their presence is related to foreign
investment. The government itself often uses the services of
foreign lawyers. Hence the Ministry of Justice has no intention
of closing the doors to foreign lawyers.

Indeed, ministry decree M01HT0402 issued last year allows
foreign lawyers to work in Indonesia under the condition that
they associate themselves with Indonesian law firms but not by
establishing a limited liability company and acquiring a permit
for management consultants from another ministry.

Nor should they operate here through, say, a technical
assistance agreement which is long-term in nature. This "law
smuggling" is not only improper but contemptuous toward
Indonesian law experts and law firms.

The time has come for foreign lawyers to toe the line over the
justice ministry decree and to show respect for Indonesian legal
experts.

Many of our law firms have offered cooperation with foreign
counterparts because each side can mutually promote performance
and technology transfer. The opportunities for legal work are
great and will not decrease despite the economic crisis.

However, honest self-criticism is needed because foreign
lawyers should be aware that in their countries foreign lawyers
would not be allowed to operate without subjecting themselves to
the local regulations.

In the United States, for instance, foreign lawyers are
required to take an examination organized by the local bar
association.

In Indonesia there is no bar examination for foreign lawyers,
but they are meant to obtain a permit from the Ministry of
Justice. Thus, if Indonesian lawyers practicing in the U.S. must
meet the requirement of passing the bar examination, U.S. lawyers
operating here should have a permit from the Ministry of Justice.
Reciprocity is a standard principle in international law that
must be respected by all.

The controversy over foreign lawyers must be promptly
addressed by the professional legal associations in Indonesia,
the Indonesian Legal Consultants Association including those
operating in the capital market and the patent consultants
association.

The issue of foreign lawyers is a professional matter, not a
matter concerning one law firm or one individual lawyer. We must
put the issue in the right context, and a thorough dialog is
needed to find a way out of the controversy.

The professional associations and the Ministry of Justice
should take the initiative to organize the dialog. On the other
hand, foreign lawyers should take a wise and humble stance.

There is always a way out for lawyers. Isn't the art of
lawyering the art of finding a way out?

The writer is a corporate lawyer based in Jakarta.

Window: The controversy about foreign lawyers is not new. It has
been the subject of many a heated debate among lawyers. However,
in general, Indonesian legal experts do not reject the presence
of foreign lawyers.