Economic laws must be updated: Lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): Noted corporate lawyer T. Mulya Lubis called on the government yesterday to update all laws related to economic activities to enable Indonesia to compete in the free market era.

"What we are talking about is an economic law revolution which will produce a set of economic laws in accordance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)," Lubis said at a seminar on business ethics organized by the Institute for the Development of Indonesian Business Ethics.

Lubis said Indonesia ratified GATT in 1994. As such, it should adjust its economic laws to GATT's free market principles before the year 2000.

"All restrictive laws should be abolished soon and we have to make incentive laws to enable us to be more competitive," he said, adding that most of the country's economic laws often hampered business activities.

If the government did not adjust the country's economic laws soon, local companies would probably lose free market competition, said Lubis.

"Has the government the political will to stage an economic law revolution? I don't know the answer," said Lubis.

He acknowledged that the government had tried to improve the economic legal system by issuing Law No 6/1989 on patent, Law No 19/1992 on brand, Law No 6/1982 on copyright, Law No 1/1995 on limited companies and the 1996 stock exchange law.

But, he said, the government had yet to make laws regulating unhealthy practices for which Indonesia had often been criticized, including monopoly, oligopoly, price control and trade barriers on such commodities as cement, plywood, paper, fertilizer, sugar, rice, retail, clove, automotive and steel.

The government had also to make a law which guarantees court's independence and fairness, said Lubis.

Lubis said the absence of court's freedom and fairness had created a lawless situation where people could break existing laws with political and economic power.(jsk)