- Contradictions in the Persons with Disabilities Bill
- House Places Tobacco Article in Bill on Culture
- Shifting the Permit to Investigate Parliament Members from Board of Ethics to President
- Indonesia Jentera School of Law Holds First Student Inaugural Ceremony
Legislation
Contradictions in the Persons with Disabilities Bill
The Bill on Persons with Disabilities has been in the process of harmonization and synchronization in Legislation Body of the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR). It is considered as a necessary step to ensure no contradictory from the bill to the constitution and other laws,
But in the Article 1 point 18 of the bill there’s a sentence “the Minister is the minister who holds government affairs in the social field”. What the article meant is the leading sector for disability issues is under the coordination of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Such an arrangement contradicts: first, contrary to the purpose of the bill itself; second, contrary to the provisions on other laws; and third, contrary also to the material on the Bill itself.
The Ministry of Social Affairs as the leading public official is incompatible with the bill purpose. The Persons with Disabilities Bill is no longer focused on the social sector, but the paradigm has already shifted to the human rights issue. Using such particular perspective, in order to fulfill the rights of people with disabilities, could not be confined to one ministry only; it should be a cross-cutting ministries issue.
Article 1 point 18 of the Persons with Disabilities Bill is not consistent with provisions in various laws. Research by PSHK states disability issues already regulated in various laws and regulations, covering 19 different sectors. The data shows many sectors, or in this case Ministries / Institutions, has authority in disability issues, not confined within the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The same article is also inconsistent with other provisions in bill itself. The bill regulates various sectors; therefore the implementation should be handled in a cross-ministry/cross-agency approach. Using a similar policy like Law No. 4 Year 1997 on Persons with Disabilities, by having the Ministry of Social Affairs as the leading agency, is contrary to the spirit held in the new Bill. Article 1 point 18 should not be using the same argument by accusing other government agencies in not sharing the same responsibilities of the disabilities issue, unlike the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The Ministry of Social Affairs is not always able to follow through with their responsibilities regarding this issue because it is beyond their own duties and function. According to President Regulation No. 46 Year 2015; The Ministry of Social Affairs has their authority on social rehabilitation, social security, social empowerment, social protection, and handling poverty. (FN)
Legislation
House Places Tobacco Article in Bill on Culture
The tobacco industry continues to impede the tobacco control movement in Indonesia through the legislative process. After succeeding to prioritise the tobacco bill on the list of bills to be passed this year, the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR) proposed two articles regarding kretek (traditional cigarettes made with a blend of tobacco and cloves) into the Bill on Culture. According to the articles, kretek will be protected as cultural heritage.
Article 37 of the Bill on Culture mentions kretek as one type of tangible culture that should be recognised and protected as historical and cultural heritage. Moreover, Article 49 outlines the government’s responsibilities of kretek culture, which are to make an inventory and to document, to facilitate the development, and to promote kretek. Despite the controversial issues of the tobacco industry in Indonesia, the House’s Legislative Council has kept on track in including those clauses into the draft law.
The Legislative Council’s Vice Chairman, Firman Soebagyo, admitted that he proposed “kretek articles” since he concerned for local tobacco farmers. The farmers, Firman said, often lose money due to the presence of imported tobacco. On the contrary, senior economist Emil Salim argued that categorising kretek as cultural heritage could devastate Indonesia’s young generation, as the government would be promoting tobacco consumption.
The Bill on Culture is currently being prepared by the House’s Committee of Education and Culture. However, it is not officially agreed as a House’s initiative bill. The Minister of Education and Culture, Anies Baswedan, has said that the government would reject the draft law if such clauses regarding kretek remain included in the bill. (RA)
Constitutional Court
Shifting the Permit to Investigate Parliament Members from Board of Ethics to President
The Constitutional Court in their decision granted the President the authority to give permit for Parliamentary members whose suspected in case of law to be examined by the police. Beforehand, the permit was given by the Parliament Board of Ethics (Majelis Kehormatan/ MKD). The decision is Constitutional Court Ruling No. 76 / PUU-XII / 2014 according Article 245 verse (1) of Law No. 17 Year 2014 on the People’s Consultative Assembly, House of Representatives, House of Regional Representatives and Regional House of Representatives (UU MD3/MD3 Law). The case filed by Eddyono Supriyadi Widodo and the Criminal Law Reform Society requested that the permit from the Parliament Board of Ethics is unnecessary for investigating parliamentary members as suspects in criminal cases, based on the equality before the law principle.
The Constitutional Court Ruling states that the phrase of written approval by the Board of Ethics in Article 245 verse (1) of the MD3 Act is contradictory to the Constitution. The Constitutional Court argues the Board of Ethics is a unit in the parliament to enforce ethics within the Parliamentary scope. Therefore, permit given to law enforcement in investigating parliamentary members should be given by the President as his capacity as the head of state.
Several subjects could be studied from the new Constitutional Court decision. The Constitutional Court actually indirectly revives the essence of Article 220 of Law No. 27 Year 2009. During that time, there were fears that investigation processes will be slow because they needed approval from the President. Before the Constitutional Court Decision, the main concern is how members of the Board of Ethics would evaluate their peers’ performance. The concern itself still lingers in the air assuming the President could act in favor for members of his own party. Another matter that should be discussed further is the subject of mechanism approval itself, which the procedure still hasn’t decided on. (RW)
CSO
Indonesia Jentera School of Law Holds First Student Inaugural Ceremony
On 14 September 2015, Indonesia Jentera School of Law (Jentera) held its first student inauguration. The inauguration took place at the Jentera campus in Kuningan, South Jakarta. As part of the inauguration, there was also commencement speech by Prof. Mardjono Reksodiputro, S.H., M.A., titled “Indonesian Penal System Reform: Facing Challenges Towards Change”.
Jentera was founded by the Indonesian Law and Policy Studies Foundation (Yayasan Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan) in order to contribute to the legal reform agenda, particularly in the education sector. The spirit was to continuously maintain and build law as a tool to gain a democratic, just, and welfare society. Therefore, high-quality legal education becomes important to produce competent legal scholars with high levels of integrity to support legal reform.
There are three ways of enrollment in order to enter Jentera; through the Jentera Scholarship, the Munir Said Thalib Scholarship and open-public selection. The Jentera scholarship was established for talented senior high school students from all over Indonesia who are keen on the idea in taking part in the legal reform agenda. Munir Said Thalib Scholarship was established specifically for activists who are directly involved in public advocacy. It is expected of the students who attend and obtained their law education in Jentera to become legal reformers in the future. (MS)