Oetojo opens business law seminar
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman opened a seminar yesterday for presentations on Singapore business law to the Indonesian legal community.
The seminar is expected to enhance bilateral legal cooperation in support of expanding economic and trade relations.
Oetojo said that economic ties should be supported by mutual understanding of each country's legal system and law institutions.
He said the differences in the Singaporean and Indonesian legal systems have decreased as some of Indonesia's business law practices are influenced by the Anglo-Saxon common law system.
Sunaryati Hartono, the chairman of the National Agency for Law Development, underlined the minister's statement, saying that the bold lines which once divided the Common law system, applied in Anglo-Saxon countries, and the Statute law system, applied in Europe Continental countries, have faded.
She said the extensive use of international agreements as law among many parties demonstrated the increasing harmony between the two legal systems.
Singapore Minister of Foreign Affairs and Law S. Jayakumar, who delivered the keynote speech during the opening ceremony, hoped that the cooperation will be followed up with exchanges of visits by legal professionals and scholars from both countries.
Masters program
Jayakumar said the National University of Singapore will soon launch a new masters program called Master of Comparative Law, which is tailored specially for students from neighboring countries, such as Indonesia.
"The faculty also intends to start courses in Indonesian law, particularly on Indonesia's business and investment laws," he said.
He said the university will establish a Center for Advanced Legal Studies, which is expected to become a reputable center for the study of regional laws.
"This center is expected to be operational very soon. In line with all these developments, I understand the university will encourage suitably qualified candidates from Indonesia for scholarships to do research in Indonesian law at the faculty," Jayakumar said.
The Indonesian ambassador to Singapore, Soedibyo Rahardjo, said that the cooperation in law is expected to boost Singapore's investment in Indonesia because Singapore investors will be more certain that their investments will be secure under Indonesian business law.
"Singapore's total investments in Indonesia have reached US$1.4 billion," he said.
The meeting follows the first seminar in 1984, at which Indonesian lawyers made presentations on Indonesian business laws to the Singapore legal community.
The current two-day seminar will discuss seven topics: an overview of Singapore's legal system, the legal profession in Singapore, Singapore law on secured transactions, the law on standard-term contracts in Singapore, the legal structure and regulation of the Singapore stock exchange, the land law and strata titles in Singapore and international commercial arbitration. (03)