Foreign lawyers in RI to be regulated
Foreign lawyers in RI to be regulated
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators have agreed to apply a restrictive regulation on foreign lawyers operating in the country, under a nearly approved bill on advocate profession.
Legislator Dwi Ria Latifa of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said that, under the proposed law, foreign lawyers who aim to operate in the country must obtain a license from the government on the recommendation of a government-sanctioned bar association.
"At present, they (foreign lawyers) work for local law firms or foreign companies, but determine their own fees for their services. This practice is very difficult to monitor.
"I think it's better to require foreign lawyers already operating here, as well as those who plan to operate here, to apply for a license from the government," Dwi Ria told The Jakarta Post recently.
She said the bill aimed to protect the interests of local lawyers in the face of tighter competition as a result of liberalized trade.
"Many lawyers have supported the restrictive bill, although others disagreed for fear of hampering the liberalization of trade and services," she said.
While any parties expect the advocate profession bill to help uphold justice, legislators failed to endorse the bill several times last year.
The bill, which comprises several crucial issues, including the regulation of foreign lawyers, the establishment of a single advocate organization, and the prohibition of government officials to work as lawyers while they hold office, is expected to be endorsed this month.
Legislator M. Akil Mochtar of the Golkar Party and lawyer Agust. Takabobir of the Indonesian Advocate Association (AAI) concurred with Dwi Ria.
"The operations of foreign lawyers in Indonesia are currently uncontrolled and beyond the reach of the advocate profession's code of ethics. This compromising situation must be changed under a new law," Akil said.
He also said that foreign lawyers would be also banned from working on litigation cases.
"It's normal to restrict their involvement in court cases, as court systems around the world are all different from one another," he said.
"Besides, litigation is not really an interesting field for foreign lawyers," he added.
Akil also said that under a reciprocity principle, if Indonesia allowed foreign lawyers to operate here, the foreign lawyers' countries of origin must also allow Indonesian lawyers to operate in those countries.
"However, the situation is not so simple, because our lawyers lack international experience, as well as financial support," he said.
Meanwhile, Takabobir said he supported the plan to regulate foreign lawyers, as it would help strengthen the bar association's role in recommending and monitoring foreign lawyers operating in Indonesia.
"There will be a significant change from the current situation, wherein foreign lawyers are practically free from all monitoring," he said.