Legal Policy
Online-Based Transportation Still Needs Specific Regulation
Disappointed to the Minister of Communication and Informatics’ policy that let online application-based transportation remain operational, many groups of taxi drivers did a mass strike, which lasted with riot, on several Jakarta’s main roads, last March. Responded to the recent situation, the government then allowing the online-based transportation companies to operate. However, these new companies have to be partner with existing public transportation companies. The app-based companies were obliged to comply with the new policy by 31 May 2016.
However that policy is not permanent solution and the online-based transportation still needs to be regulated clearly. Even though Law No. 22 of 2009 on Traffic and Transportation and its implementing regulations have accommodated content app permits, public transport companies permits, obligation to establish legal entity, and responsibilities of companies to customers and drivers, these existing regulations cannot fully accommodate the online-based transportation.
The main concern of forming a new regulation is to define the online-based transportation. Unlike the conventional taxi, the online-based service like Uber and GrabCar are not registered as public transport. Thus, online-based transportation has to be defined as new transportation class outside taxi and vehicle rental service. Some other concerns are the partnership model between the online-based companies and the public transportation companies, legal relations between the online-based companies and the drivers, drivers certification, and protection of drivers and customers. (MFA)
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Legal Policy
Enactment of Law on Persons with Disabilities
House of Representatives plenary session held on 17 March 2016 finally passed the Persons with Disabilities Bill. The enactment was made after a more than five years discussion between the parliament and the government. With this new law, Indonesia takes a new step towards ensuring the protection, respect and fulfillment of rights of persons with disabilities.
The Law on Persons with Disabilities regulates legal protection, health, transportation, infrastructure, employment, sports, etc. In addition, the new law also introduces a new institution called the National Commission on Disabilities (Komisi Nasional Disabilitas/KND).
One of the main objectives of the new law is to change the approach used on the disability issues; from the charity-based approach to a human-rights based one. However, the law still places the Ministry of Social Affairs as the leading sector in disability issues. This is quite problematic due to the fact that authority of the Ministry of Social only covers charity issues, which is limited to the social rehabilitation and social welfare aspect.
The implementation of the law needs to be supported by other regulations, such as Government Regulations (Peraturan Pemerintah) and Presidential Regulations (Peraturan Presiden). It needs to be supported also by internal government coordination to conduct data collecting, so that each policy can be precisely targeted and be able to resolve problems. (FN)
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Supreme Court and the Judiciary
Needs Assessment Required for Justice Selection Process
The selection process of Supreme Court Justices has not changed from the previous events. The Judicial Commission (Komisi Yudisial/KY) is only considering the number and criteria of justices needed, which is previously determined by the Supreme Court. Basically, the KY has only followed-up the request for a total of eight Justices from the Supreme Court; one justice for the Chamber of Criminal Cases, four for the Chamber of Civil Cases, one for the Chamber of Religious Affairs Cases, one for the Chamber of Military Cases, and one for Chamber of State Administrations Cases.
The Law on the Supreme Court and the Law on the Judicial Commission regulates that the recruitment is based on the retirement of existing Justices. The law does not regulate the situation on if the Supreme Court Justice were to pass away or the needs of Justices of each chamber. Chief Justice Regulation No. 213 Year 2014 on the Implementation of the Chamber System states that the chambers are set up by the Chief Justice, taking into consideration the caseload and needs of specific expertise of Justices. The objectives are to improve the performance of the court and to speed up the case handling process.
The implementation of a chamber system is not working as expected. The quantitative need of Supreme Court Justices that has been identified is not taking into consideration the existing caseloads. The Justices in the Criminal and Civil Cases chambers have more caseloads than other chambers. A proper needs assessment is required. The KY has an opportunity to do so in order to carry out the mandates given by the Law regarding the appointment of Supreme Court Justices. (EDA)
Download: Law Reform Weekly Digest Edition 05-May-2016-1