Legal Matters in Indonesia

"If people do not have access to the law, they cannot know
their rights.
If people do not know their rights, they cannot demand the
enforcement of their rights.
If people are not empowered to demand the enforcement of
their rights, they will be exploited and abused by those with
access to power over the law."
The rule of law in Indonesia is in the process of major reform. Corruption is certainly an
important villain in the process of legal development. Another impediment to the
development of the rule of law related to systemic barriers to access to regulatory
promulgation's. Regional government offices and courts outside of Jakarta normally
experience significant inconvenience in attempting to access the tens of thousands of
laws regulations, regulations and decisions in effect and governing our social interactions.
It is no wonder that some judges and lawyers are prevented from engaging in pure
application of legal analysis to factual situations due to the inability to find the law.

Most people don't realize the fact that the Indonesian government is an extremely adept
instrument for the promulgation of laws and regulation. There is a tremendous amount
of law on the books. Ana most of it is adequately written though sometimes requiring a
bit of a torturous effort towards a reasonable interpretation. Nevertheless, the law is
capable of serving its intended function if read and applied in good faith. The Indonesian
government has been making significant efforts to disseminate the law throughout the
entire Indonesian archipelago. Given that the construction of law libraries throughout the
entire Indonesian archipelago. Given that the construction of law libraries has probably
been recognized to be beyond the budgetary needs of the Nation at this time, the
government can be praised to some degree for the steps it has taken towards the
development of web sited of various departments containing an ever growing quantity of
download able laws and regulations.

Unfortunately Indonesia's low telephone density across the Nation and the number of
those with access to telephone capable of carrying sufficient band width and clarity
interconnect with the internet reduces the effectiveness of the government's internet law
dissemination program even further. But that does not mean these government programs
are misguided. In fact they are great steps for the Nation.
Although over the last few years the government has made great strides toward the
provision of means to access the law, it is still necessary to visit relevant government
departments and meet with government officials responsible in particular fields of interest
to request assistance in obtaining relevant materials decrees and other promulgation's
which govern legal relationships. Depending on the availability of officials, the accuracy
and detail of answers provided is at times less than uniform and complete. Certainly more
disturbing is the fact that access to governmental departments is still geographically
limited to Jakarta, the Nations capital and the seat of government. This, for the more
than two hundred million people living outside of the capital, reasonably efficient access
tot he law is almost non-existent.