RI law partially incorporates `Sharia': Oetojo
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian legal system has incorporated only parts of the Sharia, or Islamic law, because Indonesia also has people of other faiths, Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said on Saturday.
The plurality of religious followers in Indonesia must be considered in drafting and compiling the national law, Oetojo said during a seminar on the relations between Islamic laws and the Indonesian legal system.
"Not all of the Sharia could be incorporated into Indonesian law because of the plurality tolerated in this country," he said at the seminar organized by the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals Association (ICMI).
Anwar Harjono, the chairman of the Indonesian Council for Islamic Propagation (DDII), said the Islamic community here is insisting that the Sharia be incorporated in its entirety.
"We do not need to transform the entire content of the Holy Koran into the national law," said Anwar.
It is essential that Moslems in Indonesia be allowed to live in accordance with Sharia, he added.
Oetojo reminded that the Indonesian legal system already carries the spirit of the religion.
He pointed out that the values of Pancasila, the five-point national ideology, are compatible with the principles contained in the Sharia.
The first tenet of Pancasila is belief in one God. Indonesia recognizes five official religions: Islam, Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Skepticism
Oetojo acknowledged that Indonesia's laws are in dire need of reform because public confidence in the legal system has eroded. He said that such skepticism has led the people to violate the laws.
Skepticism is also reflected in the attitude shown by some members of the public that the court and the law enforcement agencies can be bribed.
The huge backlog of appeal cases at the Supreme Court indicates that people mistrust the authority and credibility of the lower courts.
Busthanul Arifin said that the plan to revamp the legal system provides Indonesia with an opportunity to establish a system which is more in line with national values and culture. This includes incorporating the Sharia.
"Most of the existing legal products were inherited from the times of the Dutch colonial administration," Busthanul said.
He said that many European countries and Australia have incorporated some of the principles of the Sharia before Indonesia did.
He said the laws on divorce in these countries, for example, now puts greater emphasis on settling the marital dispute than simply trying to determine the culprit.
"Indonesia, where Moslems make up the majority of the population, has not adopted this Islamic approach in a marriage dispute. Instead, it still clings to outdated laws which even the Dutch have discarded," Busthanul said. (02)