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Desperately reforming legal system
After 20 years of legal reform, legal culture has not really lived and grown in society.
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Badly hit?: Former speaker of the House of Representatives and one time Golkar Party chief Setya Novanto is pictured in November 2017 at the Medika Permata Hijau Hospital in West Jakarta following an alleged accident. In his trial in the massive e-ID corruption case, his injuries were found to be minor. Setya was sentenced to 15 years in April for embezzling Rp 5.9 trillion (US$424 million). (The Jakarta Post/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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n May 1998, six demands for reform resounded throughout the country; almost all were related to the legal system. The effort manifested in the amendment of the 1945 Constitution, which included abolishing the Armed Forces’ (ABRI) dual-function doctrine, reinstating the supremacy of law, respect for human rights, and eradicating corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN).
Other aspirations were indirectly connected with the law but required legal means to realize, including regional autonomy, press freedom and democratization.
Now, 20 years later, most of the demands have materialized. First, the amendment of the 1945 Constitution has produced a new constitution, the contents of which are far more democratic than the original one.
The success in formulating the new constitution has allowed Indonesia to become a role model for constitutional reform for new democratic countries. Some nations are now trying to renew their constitutions, such as Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam and Egypt, after learning from Indonesia’s experience. I have received several invitations from these countries as a comparative constitution expert to supervise their constitutional amendment process.
