8 - Indonesia
The challenges of legal diversity and law reform
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
By
Summary
Introduction
Indonesia's national motto, ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’, is often translated as ‘Unity in Diversity’. When it comes to law, Indonesia truly abides by this motto – it is one of the most legally diverse, and consequentially legally complex, countries in the world. Indonesia is the largest majority-Muslim country in the world, yet it is not an Islamic state, even though it does implement important parts of Islamic law. It is a civil law country even though much of its Civil Code and Commercial Code are no longer in force, having been replaced by statutes, some allegedly inspired from adat law, the indigenous laws of the different ethnic groups that make up Indonesia. These adats or adat laws reflect a great diversity in law, the adat of each ethnic group being different. Religious diversity is recognised through freedom of religion provisions in the Constitution and through the recognition of the legal consequences of religion – for example, Muslims will have Islamic family and inheritance law applied to them (sometimes as modified by adat and by state law) but Christians will have their religious marriage given the legal effect of a civil marriage by the state which corresponds in large part to their religious beliefs (a monogamous marriage, for example). Indonesia takes legal pluralism seriously as a mean of respecting the diversity of its citizens.
This diversity makes Indonesia one of the most fascinating jurisdictions for anyone interested in comparative law and legal pluralism.
- Type
- Chapter
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- Law and Legal Institutions of AsiaTraditions, Adaptations and Innovations, pp. 262 - 298Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
‘Antasari Gets 18 Years in Jail for Murder, Set to Appeal’, The Jakarta Post, 11 February 2010
, Administrative Courts in Indonesia – A Socio-Legal Study, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2001Google Scholar
, ‘The New Indonesian Laws Relating to Regional Autonomy: Good Intentions, Confusing Laws’, Asian Pacific Law and Policy Journal, vol. 2, 2001, p. 1Google Scholar
, ‘Indonesia: The New Regional Autonomy Laws, Two Years Later’, Southeast Asian Affairs, 2003, p. 117CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, ‘Multiculturalism in Law is Legal Pluralism – Lessons from Indonesia, Singapore and Canada’, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 2006, p. 315Google Scholar
et al., Advokat Indonesia Mencari Legitimasi, 3rd ed, Pusat Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan Indonesia, Jakarta, 2001Google Scholar
, ‘Surat Sakti: The Decline of Authority of Judicial Decisions in Indonesia’, in (ed), Indonesia – Law and Society, 2nd ed, Federation Press, Sydney, 2008Google Scholar
, ‘The Indonesian Islamic Judiciary’, in and (eds), Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesia – Ideas and Institutions, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2007Google Scholar
, ‘The Indonesian Chinese as “Foreign Orientals” in the Netherlands Indies’, in (ed), Indonesia: Law and Society, The Federation Press, Sydney, 1999Google Scholar
‘Corruption Watchdog Threatens to Sue Indonesian President over KPK Case’, Jakarta Globe, 30 November 2009
, ‘Islam – Historical Introduction and Overview’, in (ed), Islam in World Cultures – Comparative Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, Oxford, 2004Google Scholar
, Muslim Legal Thought in Modern Indonesia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, ‘Measuring Up? Indonesia's Anti-Corruption Commission and the New Corruption Agenda’, in (ed), Indonesia – Law and Society, 2nd ed, Federation Press, Sydney, 2008Google Scholar
, ‘Disputes and Pluralism in Modern Indonesian Land Law’, Yale Journal of International Law, vol. 22, no. 1, 1997, p. 171Google Scholar
, ‘A Survey on the Influence of International Economic Policy on Indonesian Laws: Implementation and Problems’, in and (eds), Development of Laws in Indonesia, ASEDP No. 51, Institute Of Developing Economies Japan External Trade Organization, Japan, 1999Google Scholar
, ‘Dispute Resolution Process in Indonesia’, Institute of Developing Economies Asian Law Series, no. 21, 2002Google Scholar
and , An Introduction to Javanese Law: A Translation of and Commentary on the Agama, Association for Asian Studies by the University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1981Google Scholar
, Indonesian Islam – Social Change through Contemporary Fatawa, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, 2003Google Scholar
, Indonesian Syariah – Defining a National School of Islamic Law, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , ‘Public Faces of Syariah in Contemporary Indonesia: Towards a National Mazhab?’ Australian Journal of Asian Law, vol. 4, no. 3, 2002, p. 259Google Scholar
The Indonesian Legal System, Supreme Court of Indonesia and Faculty of Law of the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, 2005
International Crisis Group, ‘Asia Briefing No. 64’, Jakarta/Brussels, 22 May 2007
, The Constitutional Law of Indonesia – A Comprehensive Overview, Sweet & Maxwell Asia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 2009Google Scholar
, Islamic Courts in Indonesia – A Study in the Political Bases of Legal Institutions, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1972Google Scholar
, ‘Between the State and Society: Professional Lawyers and Reform in Indonesia’, in and (eds), Making Indonesia – Essays on Modern Indonesia in Honor of George McTurnan Kahin, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publication, Ithaca, New York, 1996Google Scholar
, ‘Colonial Law and the Genesis of the Indonesian State’, in , Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia – Selected Essays, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000Google Scholar
, Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia – Selected Essays, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000Google Scholar
, ‘The Politics of Judicial Development in Indonesia’, in , Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia – Selected Essays, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000Google Scholar
, and (eds), Making Indonesia – Essays on Modern Indonesia in Honor of George McTurnan Kahin, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publication, Ithaca, New York, 1996Google Scholar
(ed), Indonesia – Law and Society, Federation Press, Sydney, 1999
and , ‘Indonesia's New Framework for International Arbitration: A Critical Assessment of the Law and its Application by the Courts’, Mealey's International Arbitration Reports, vol. 17, 2002, p. 39Google Scholar
, ‘Collective Ijtihad and Nahdlatul Ulama’, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2004, p. 5Google Scholar
, Shari'a and Constitutional Reform in Indonesia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2007Google Scholar
, The Indonesian Supreme Court: A Study of Institutional Collapse, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications, New York, Ithaca, 2005Google Scholar
‘Released KPK Officers Bibit and Chandra Overwhelmed By Public Support’, Jakarta Globe, 4 November 2009
, ‘Unity and Disunity in Javanese Political and Religious Thought of the Eighteenth Century’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 26, no. 4, 1992, p. 663CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, ‘Decentralisation and Legal Reform in Indonesia: The Pendulum Effect’, in (ed) Indonesia – Law and Society, 2nd ed, Federation Press, Sydney, 2008Google Scholar
(ed), Sutasoma, A Study in Old Javanese Wajrayana, International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi, 1975Google Scholar
‘Supreme Court Upholds Antasari's 18-year Sentence’, The Jakarta Post, 22 September 2010
‘Watchdogs Fear Police Probe Aims to Cripple KPK’, Jakarta Globe, 15 July 2009
‘Yudhoyono Vows to Eradicate Indonesia's “Judicial Mafia” in 100 Days’, Jakarta Globe, 6 November 2009
Case No. 013/PUU-I/2003 of 24 July 2004 (Constitutional Court)
Case No. 006/PUU-II/2004 of 13 December 2004 (Constitutional Court)
Case No. 005/PUU-IV/2006 of 23 August 2006 (Constitutional Court)
Case No. 012–016-019/PUU-IV/2006 of 19 December 2006 (Constitutional Court)
1945 Basic Law (1945 Constitution) (Undang Undang Dasar 1945)
Circular of the Supreme Court No. 3 of 1963 on Not Considering the Civil Code as Legislation (Surat Edaran Mahkamah Agung Nomor 3 Tahun 1963 Tentang Gagasan Menganggap Burgerlijk Wetboek Tidak Sebagai Undang-Undang)
Constitution of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia (Konstitusi Republik Indonesia Serikat)
Decree of the MPR Number III/MPR/2000 regarding Sources of Law and the Hierarchical Order of Legislative Rules (18 August 2000)
Government Regulation No. 37 of Year 1998 on the Regulation of the Office of Officer Issuing Land Deeds
Law No. 5 of 1960 on Basic Agrarian Law
Law No. 1 of 1967 on Foreign Investment
Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage
Law No. 8 of 1981 on Criminal Procedure (Code of Penal Procedure; Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Acara Pidana)
Law No. 14 of 1985 on the Supreme Court (as amended by art 1(19) of Law No. 5 of 2004)
Law No. 5 of 1986 on State Administrative Judicature
Law No. 7 of 1989 on Religious Courts
Law No.7 of 1992 on Banking (as amended by Law No. 10 of 1998)
Law No. 17 of 1999 on the Haj
Law No. 22 of 1999 on Local Governance, revised by Law No. 32 of 2004 (Law on Regional Autonomy)
Law No. 23 of 1999 on the Bank of Indonesia
Law No. 35 of 1999 amending Law No. 14 of 1970 on Judicial Power
Law No. 38 of 1999 on Zakat
Law No. 18 of 2001 on a Special Autonomy for the Special Region of Aceh as the Province of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam
Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission
Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocates
Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court
Law No. 8 of 2004 on the Judges of the General Courts amending Law No. 2 of 1986 on the Judicature
Law No. 10 of 2004 on the Making of Legislative Instruments
Law No. 16 of 2004 on the Public Prosecution Service
Law No. 30 of 2004 on the Office of Notary
Law No. 37 of 2004 on Bankruptcy
Law No. 3 of 2006 (amending Law No. 7 of 1989 on Religious Courts)
Law No. 40 of 2007 on Limited Liability Companies
Law No. 31 of 2009
Supreme Court Regulation No. 1 of 1977
Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 62/2001
Presidential Instruction No. 1 of 1991 (Instruksi Presiden)
Provisional Constitution (Undang-Undang Dasar Sementara)
Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 10 Tahun 2004 Tentang Pembentukan Peraturan Perundang-Undangan (Regional Regulation)
Indonesian Supreme Court <http://www.mahkamahagung.go.id/>
Pompe, S, Judicial Reforms In Indonesia: Transparency, Accountability and Fighting Corruption (2005) <http://jrn21.judiciary.gov.ph/forum_icsjr/ICSJR_Indonesia%20%28S%20Pompe%29.pdf>
Portal Nasional Republik Indonesia <http://www.indonesia.go.id/>
Public Opinion Survey Indonesia, (2005) International Foundation for Election Systems <http://www.ifes.org/∼/media/Files/Publications/Survey/2005/285/2005survey%20report_eng.pdf>
‘Antasari Gets 18 Years in Jail for Murder, Set to Appeal’, The Jakarta Post, 11 February 2010
, Administrative Courts in Indonesia – A Socio-Legal Study, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2001Google Scholar
, ‘The New Indonesian Laws Relating to Regional Autonomy: Good Intentions, Confusing Laws’, Asian Pacific Law and Policy Journal, vol. 2, 2001, p. 1Google Scholar
, ‘Indonesia: The New Regional Autonomy Laws, Two Years Later’, Southeast Asian Affairs, 2003, p. 117CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, ‘Multiculturalism in Law is Legal Pluralism – Lessons from Indonesia, Singapore and Canada’, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 2006, p. 315Google Scholar
et al., Advokat Indonesia Mencari Legitimasi, 3rd ed, Pusat Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan Indonesia, Jakarta, 2001Google Scholar
, ‘Surat Sakti: The Decline of Authority of Judicial Decisions in Indonesia’, in (ed), Indonesia – Law and Society, 2nd ed, Federation Press, Sydney, 2008Google Scholar
, ‘The Indonesian Islamic Judiciary’, in and (eds), Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesia – Ideas and Institutions, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2007Google Scholar
, ‘The Indonesian Chinese as “Foreign Orientals” in the Netherlands Indies’, in (ed), Indonesia: Law and Society, The Federation Press, Sydney, 1999Google Scholar
‘Corruption Watchdog Threatens to Sue Indonesian President over KPK Case’, Jakarta Globe, 30 November 2009
, ‘Islam – Historical Introduction and Overview’, in (ed), Islam in World Cultures – Comparative Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, Oxford, 2004Google Scholar
, Muslim Legal Thought in Modern Indonesia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, ‘Measuring Up? Indonesia's Anti-Corruption Commission and the New Corruption Agenda’, in (ed), Indonesia – Law and Society, 2nd ed, Federation Press, Sydney, 2008Google Scholar
, ‘Disputes and Pluralism in Modern Indonesian Land Law’, Yale Journal of International Law, vol. 22, no. 1, 1997, p. 171Google Scholar
, ‘A Survey on the Influence of International Economic Policy on Indonesian Laws: Implementation and Problems’, in and (eds), Development of Laws in Indonesia, ASEDP No. 51, Institute Of Developing Economies Japan External Trade Organization, Japan, 1999Google Scholar
, ‘Dispute Resolution Process in Indonesia’, Institute of Developing Economies Asian Law Series, no. 21, 2002Google Scholar
and , An Introduction to Javanese Law: A Translation of and Commentary on the Agama, Association for Asian Studies by the University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1981Google Scholar
, Indonesian Islam – Social Change through Contemporary Fatawa, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, 2003Google Scholar
, Indonesian Syariah – Defining a National School of Islamic Law, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , ‘Public Faces of Syariah in Contemporary Indonesia: Towards a National Mazhab?’ Australian Journal of Asian Law, vol. 4, no. 3, 2002, p. 259Google Scholar
The Indonesian Legal System, Supreme Court of Indonesia and Faculty of Law of the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, 2005
International Crisis Group, ‘Asia Briefing No. 64’, Jakarta/Brussels, 22 May 2007
, The Constitutional Law of Indonesia – A Comprehensive Overview, Sweet & Maxwell Asia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 2009Google Scholar
, Islamic Courts in Indonesia – A Study in the Political Bases of Legal Institutions, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1972Google Scholar
, ‘Between the State and Society: Professional Lawyers and Reform in Indonesia’, in and (eds), Making Indonesia – Essays on Modern Indonesia in Honor of George McTurnan Kahin, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publication, Ithaca, New York, 1996Google Scholar
, ‘Colonial Law and the Genesis of the Indonesian State’, in , Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia – Selected Essays, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000Google Scholar
, Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia – Selected Essays, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000Google Scholar
, ‘The Politics of Judicial Development in Indonesia’, in , Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia – Selected Essays, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000Google Scholar
, and (eds), Making Indonesia – Essays on Modern Indonesia in Honor of George McTurnan Kahin, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publication, Ithaca, New York, 1996Google Scholar
(ed), Indonesia – Law and Society, Federation Press, Sydney, 1999
and , ‘Indonesia's New Framework for International Arbitration: A Critical Assessment of the Law and its Application by the Courts’, Mealey's International Arbitration Reports, vol. 17, 2002, p. 39Google Scholar
, ‘Collective Ijtihad and Nahdlatul Ulama’, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2004, p. 5Google Scholar
, Shari'a and Constitutional Reform in Indonesia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2007Google Scholar
, The Indonesian Supreme Court: A Study of Institutional Collapse, Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications, New York, Ithaca, 2005Google Scholar
‘Released KPK Officers Bibit and Chandra Overwhelmed By Public Support’, Jakarta Globe, 4 November 2009
, ‘Unity and Disunity in Javanese Political and Religious Thought of the Eighteenth Century’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 26, no. 4, 1992, p. 663CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, ‘Decentralisation and Legal Reform in Indonesia: The Pendulum Effect’, in (ed) Indonesia – Law and Society, 2nd ed, Federation Press, Sydney, 2008Google Scholar
(ed), Sutasoma, A Study in Old Javanese Wajrayana, International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi, 1975Google Scholar
‘Supreme Court Upholds Antasari's 18-year Sentence’, The Jakarta Post, 22 September 2010
‘Watchdogs Fear Police Probe Aims to Cripple KPK’, Jakarta Globe, 15 July 2009
‘Yudhoyono Vows to Eradicate Indonesia's “Judicial Mafia” in 100 Days’, Jakarta Globe, 6 November 2009
Case No. 013/PUU-I/2003 of 24 July 2004 (Constitutional Court)
Case No. 006/PUU-II/2004 of 13 December 2004 (Constitutional Court)
Case No. 005/PUU-IV/2006 of 23 August 2006 (Constitutional Court)
Case No. 012–016-019/PUU-IV/2006 of 19 December 2006 (Constitutional Court)
1945 Basic Law (1945 Constitution) (Undang Undang Dasar 1945)
Circular of the Supreme Court No. 3 of 1963 on Not Considering the Civil Code as Legislation (Surat Edaran Mahkamah Agung Nomor 3 Tahun 1963 Tentang Gagasan Menganggap Burgerlijk Wetboek Tidak Sebagai Undang-Undang)
Constitution of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia (Konstitusi Republik Indonesia Serikat)
Decree of the MPR Number III/MPR/2000 regarding Sources of Law and the Hierarchical Order of Legislative Rules (18 August 2000)
Government Regulation No. 37 of Year 1998 on the Regulation of the Office of Officer Issuing Land Deeds
Law No. 5 of 1960 on Basic Agrarian Law
Law No. 1 of 1967 on Foreign Investment
Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage
Law No. 8 of 1981 on Criminal Procedure (Code of Penal Procedure; Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Acara Pidana)
Law No. 14 of 1985 on the Supreme Court (as amended by art 1(19) of Law No. 5 of 2004)
Law No. 5 of 1986 on State Administrative Judicature
Law No. 7 of 1989 on Religious Courts
Law No.7 of 1992 on Banking (as amended by Law No. 10 of 1998)
Law No. 17 of 1999 on the Haj
Law No. 22 of 1999 on Local Governance, revised by Law No. 32 of 2004 (Law on Regional Autonomy)
Law No. 23 of 1999 on the Bank of Indonesia
Law No. 35 of 1999 amending Law No. 14 of 1970 on Judicial Power
Law No. 38 of 1999 on Zakat
Law No. 18 of 2001 on a Special Autonomy for the Special Region of Aceh as the Province of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam
Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission
Law No. 18 of 2003 on Advocates
Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court
Law No. 8 of 2004 on the Judges of the General Courts amending Law No. 2 of 1986 on the Judicature
Law No. 10 of 2004 on the Making of Legislative Instruments
Law No. 16 of 2004 on the Public Prosecution Service
Law No. 30 of 2004 on the Office of Notary
Law No. 37 of 2004 on Bankruptcy
Law No. 3 of 2006 (amending Law No. 7 of 1989 on Religious Courts)
Law No. 40 of 2007 on Limited Liability Companies
Law No. 31 of 2009
Supreme Court Regulation No. 1 of 1977
Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 62/2001
Presidential Instruction No. 1 of 1991 (Instruksi Presiden)
Provisional Constitution (Undang-Undang Dasar Sementara)
Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 10 Tahun 2004 Tentang Pembentukan Peraturan Perundang-Undangan (Regional Regulation)
Indonesian Supreme Court <http://www.mahkamahagung.go.id/>
Pompe, S, Judicial Reforms In Indonesia: Transparency, Accountability and Fighting Corruption (2005) <http://jrn21.judiciary.gov.ph/forum_icsjr/ICSJR_Indonesia%20%28S%20Pompe%29.pdf>
Portal Nasional Republik Indonesia <http://www.indonesia.go.id/>
Public Opinion Survey Indonesia, (2005) International Foundation for Election Systems <http://www.ifes.org/∼/media/Files/Publications/Survey/2005/285/2005survey%20report_eng.pdf>
(ed), Indonesia – Law and Society, 2nd ed, Federation Press, Sydney, 2008
, Legal Evolution and Political Authority in Indonesia – Selected Essays, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000Google Scholar
, The Constitutional Law of Indonesia – A Comprehensive Overview, Sweet & Maxwell Asia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 2009Google Scholar
, The Indonesian Supreme Court – A Study of Institutional Collapse (2005)
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