Arief Hidayat States Indonesia is in a State of "Hyper Regulation"

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Constitutional Court Justice Arief Hidayat believes that Indonesia currently has too many rules, which ultimately cause various problems. He expressed this view while delivering a scientific oration upon being inaugurated as an emeritus professor in the field of constitutional law at Borobudur University, Jakarta, on Saturday (2/5/2026). “When all interests are viewed as needing to be enshrined in legislation, a condition arises known as hyper regulation or over regulation. The hyper regulation condition harbours various problems,” said Arief on Saturday. Arief explained that at least five problems emerge from the hyper regulation situation. Second, the regulations created are not grounded in noble values and basic legal principles. “Noble values such as justice, good faith, honesty, and truth are often detached from the established regulations. Abstract values believed to be true and meta-juridical in nature cannot be sublimated into regulations,” said Arief. Third, the formulation of regulations is often not accompanied by attention to the effectiveness of law enforcement. “It is evident that many regulations have been in force for a long time, yet there are too many violations because they are not approached with proper law enforcement,” said Arief. Fourth, due to the abundance of regulations created, the public becomes unaware of all those rules, compounded by the lack of optimal socialisation. Arief assessed that this condition can increase the potential for defiance of the regulations due to public ignorance. In fact, he said, there may be no urgency for the existence of those regulations. Therefore, Arief believes there is a need to re-interpret the doctrine of the current rule of law state.