Emergency Law should be revised, Yusril says

Emergency Law should be revised, Yusril says

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said the government has intentionally postponed its
approval for the Emergency Law as it needs significant revision.

"Some of the articles in the law should be revised before we
(the government) approve it," Yusril told reporters on Wednesday
after a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission II
for legal and domestic affairs.

The articles that should be revised include a requirement that
the imposition of a state of civil emergency requires the
approval of the provincial legislature.

"What about the emergencies in new provinces such as North
Maluku, which still does not have a legislative council?" he
remarked.

Asked about the amendment of the 1945 Constitution whereby
article 20 (5) now states that the President should approve a law
passed by the House within a period of 30 days at the most,
Yusril argued that this amendment was not applicable to the
Emergency Law.

He claimed that the August amendment was not relevant as the
Emergency Law had been passed by the House last year and so still
required the approval of the President.

"We cannot act in a retroactive manner. The Emergency Law was
enacted prior to the passing of the constitutional amendment in
August of this year," Yusril, who is also a constitutional law
professor, remarked.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung reiterated on Wednesday that the
Emergency Law was already in effect, even though the President
had yet to approve it.

"The law may be employed even though the President has yet to
give his consent," Akbar, chairman of the Golkar Party, told
reporters.

He said that his remarks were based on the substance of the
amended Article 20 (5) which stipulates that a law should be
approved by the President within at least 30 days after being
enacted by the House, or else it would automatically come into
effect.

During a consultative meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid
on Tuesday, the House leadership asked the President to quickly
approve the law.

The law, passed by the House under the government of President
B.J. Habibie last year, was meant to replace the more draconian
and repressive 1959 Law on state emergencies.

Thousands of people, including students, protested the bill at
that time. At least four people, including a student of the
University of Indonesia, were killed during the protests.

The House's demand for the approval of the law was stated to
be based on increasing violence in restive provinces which could
threaten the country's integrity.

The House leadership said that the police and Indonesian
Military (TNI) needed a legal basis to deal with riots across the
country. (jun)