Indonesia Law and Society (2nd Ed) – Book Review

This photo is the view from the shores of Townsville. (Throughout winter, I have been sending the photo haphazardly to numerous friends in Brisbane.  Can’t think why…). When I think about what lies across the Queensland pond, in the immediate vicinity is Magnetic Island, followed by Palm Island. Then, if you move beyond that, you’d have to, at some stage, run into what is the world’s most populous Islamic nation; one of Australia’s closest diplomatic neighbours; and the subject matter of the book that I am reviewing — INDONESIA.

Indonesia Law and Society has two stated aims (at page xi): “to introduce Indonesia’s complex and unusual legal system to those unfamiliar with it ..(and)…to provide the more knowledgeable reader with a series of specialist essays on a broad range of important contemporary issues in Indonesian law.” The book succeeds in fulfilling these aims.

Contributors to the project comprise an impressive cohort of scholars and practitioners. Lindsay, himself, has consulted to the International Labour Organisation Asian offices and also worked for Minter Ellison. Simon Butt completed a PhD on the Indonesian Constitutional Court and has taught courses to Indonesian judges and government officials; and Stewart Fenwick has headed up AusAID’s Indonesia-Australia Legal Development. The further writers — 25 in all – provide the global understanding of black letter law legal systems and the trading and cultural environment necessary to gain an insight into the mosaic that is Indonesia’s legal and associated life.

In terms of specialist topics, my obvious interest (being an employment lawyer) went to “Labour Law and Practice in Post-Soeharto Indonesia.” It was interesting to read about workplace organisation in Indonesia, especially, as those sorts of questions are revisited in Australia. Further chapters deal with all manner of useful, evolving areas of law such as: Islamic Law, anti-corruption measures, gender issues and human rights, intellectual property, competition, commercial and contract laws. There is an interesting piece on the Bali bombing and constitutionalism. The opening chapter on internet research on Indonesia would be useful not only to scholars of Indonesia but any lawyer advising on Indonesia-related matters. (Australian lawyers dealing with trade questions or extraditions and criminal importation matters may be drawn into that field).

At a broader level, Chapter One gives an account of Indonesia’s political history which, in turn, establishes why Australians should take an interest in this country and its laws (whether they are actually studying Indonesian law or not). The chapter, by Lindsay and Santosa, speaks about the disparate influences that made up the present culture of Indonesia — the influence of the Dutch and of Islam and it speaks of the corruption problems that have arisen over the years. It studies the end of the Soeharto era and the reforms attempted by Megawati Soekarnoputri and latterly Susilo Bambang Yudoyono. The conclusion of the chapter is worth quoting at length as it goes to the purpose of writing and using the book (p21-22)²:

…The politicians and bureaucrats of the Era Reformasi (post Soeharto era) are facing the task of unravelling a pervasive system of institutionalised authoritarianism and rebuilding  the dysfunctional legal system failure inherited from the first two presidents, and the pervasive, systemic corruption model inherited from Soeharto, without, at the same time, disintegrating the state.  The fact of democratic elections means they cannot avoid these colossal and confounding tasks, despite many of them lacking experience or relevant skills…

…

Rhetorically at least, the broad principles of a more just and democratic system are now broadly agreed upon but much of the essential detail for implementing these principles instrumentally and institutionally is still missing.  Put another way, new laws, courts and commissions lag well behind policy promises and national agendas. .. This should not, however, mask the fact that what is remarkable about the troubled process of legal and political reform in post-Soeharto…Indonesia is not so much the morass of problems it still faces, but despite them, how far it has come along the long path to answering the same question asked so many times before in modern Indonesian history:  what laws for the new State?

Louise Floyd

Footnotes

1. Tim Lindsey (who is photographed) is Professor of Law, ARC Federation Fellow, Director of the Asian Law Centre and Co-Director of the Centre for Islamic Law and Society, all at the University of Melbourne. (Details taken from the website of the Federation Press.)
2. The book, although in the higher range of TFP publicaitons, is still good value at an RRP of $180 or $150, direct from the publisher.