Lawyers must unite before 2005: Soerjono

Lawyers must unite before 2005: Soerjono

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia lawyers should unite under an umbrella
organization because they will have to compete with foreign
lawyers after 2005, Chief Justice Soerjono said.

Soerjono told members of the Association of Indonesian
Advocates (AAI) that in compliance with the General Agreement on
Trade and Tariffs (GATT) Indonesia will have to open its doors to
foreign lawyers.

Indonesia, he explained, will have to abide by the free trade
commitments it agreed to in GATT and with the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations. Indonesia has also committed itself to
free trade with members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Besides becoming more professional, Indonesian lawyers must
form a united front to face the challenge, the chief justice said
on Friday.

A single association would make it easier for the government
and lawyers to jointly draw up a code of ethics, he said.

Some of these foreign lawyers will be highly professional and
trained as they come from countries with sophisticated legal
systems, he warned.

The AAI is one of three lawyer associations in Indonesia. All
three have been at loggerheads. The other two are the Indonesian
Bar Association and the Association of Indonesian Lawyers

The government has failed to persuade them to unite into one
organization, as a 1985 law requires every profession to do,
because the association leaders reject the idea. The associations
have however agreed on the need to establish a common code of
ethics for their profession.

AAI leaders have also emphasized the need for legislation that
recognizes advocates as a separate profession. They insist they
are different from lawyers.

The AAI, founded in 1990, has 896 members. It appointed Yan
Apul, previously the deputy of Gani Djemat, its new chairman on
Friday.

Gani Djemat said in his farewell speech on Friday that while
he agreed with unification, it is more imperative that Indonesia
enact legislation on their profession. (03).