Dilemma in the law

Dilemma in the law

From Media Indonesia

The lawyers seem to be getting tired of criticizing the faulty
application of the law in this country. The complicated Marsinah
case, the Sengkon-Karta and Pacah cases, the Eddy Tansil credit
scam and the Kedungombo case are just a few in which something
seems to have gone wrong.

Citing that the Indonesian law system is lagging behind that
of the other ASEAN countries, the Indonesian Lawyers Association
expressed its concern in response to the Bogor declaration. One
of the reasons, according to the Ikadin's secretary-general, is
that the industrially-advanced countries grouped in APEC are
economic "giants" having sophisticated technology and hundreds of
years of experience. So we can imagine that in 2020 their system
of law will have progressed substantially, whereas our the
condition of our law is likely to remain uncertain.

I mention only the aspect of the "substance of the law", or
what is called "the law building program". This is not including
law personnel, the law enforcing bodies, the court system's
staff, nor the instruments of the law.

As many lawyers have advocated, the most urgent thing to be
done is the creation of new law products to fill the gap, such as
an anti-monopoly law and an anti-cartel law, etc. New laws should
be established to replace the obsolete colonial laws. There are
some 400 of them in the legal sectors, such a civil law, trade
law, and the state treasury law.

HADARI DJENAWI TAHIR

Jakarta