SBY calls for legal harmonization

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday reminded ASEAN countries of the urgency of harmonizing the legal systems of countries in the region to improve cooperation among them.

“To realize the ASEAN community that we have envisioned, ASEAN member countries must continue to strengthen the rule of law and enhance our judicial resistance as well as the legal infrastructure in our region,” Yudhoyono stated at the opening of the 11th ASEAN Law Association (ALA) General Assembly in Nusa Dua, Bali.

ALA, which was founded in 1979, is a recognized ASEAN body consisting of lawyers, prosecutors, attorneys, academics, and legal practitioners, coming from 11 countries in the region: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor Leste.

Yudhoyono emphasized that an effective and just legal system would serve as a foundation of realizing the ASEAN economic community by 2015.

The law and legal system of ASEAN countries would then complement one another, accelerating regional growth.

“This does not mean that ASEAN should combine or merge the diverse legal systems in ASEAN countries. But there has to be a process of harmonization,” said Yudhoyono.

ALA General Assembly’s head of the organizing committee Syamsul Maarif explained how each ASEAN country applied different legal systems.

“Unlike European countries, which are regulated under one European Law, ASEAN is not conceptualized as one legal system. Harmonization is necessary,” said Syamsul.

This year, the ALA General Assembly, held every three years, hopes to begin establishing a center of information on ASEAN member legal systems such as investment, land and immigration laws. “We hope to establish an online network that contains all legal and regulation information from each of the ASEAN members,” said Syamsul.

Yudhoyono also highlighted the urgency of harmonizing the region-wide system on labor. “In partnership with labor exporting and labor importing countries, we aim to better regulate the recruitment of migrant workers and adopt mechanisms to eliminate recruitment malpractices,” he said.

Yudhoyono also promised that the Indonesian government would continue to improve the country’s legal reforms. “We are committed to ensuring that our judicial system is well-respected and trustworthy, a judicial system that is free from bribery and other corrupt practices.

As a result of the commitment, he continued, corrupt judges and legal practitioners had been brought to justice and had been imprisoned for the terms they deserved. “This is unprecedented in the history of Indonesia,” he said