Law making in Indonesia
The Local Law Scrapheap
As we reported in the October 2008 Legislation Newsletter, it appears that some 29% of local laws in Indonesia are cancelled by the Central Government. Very many of the local laws to be cancelled have been laws imposing taxes and charges (retribusi). Sectors represented are transport, agriculture, industry and trade and forestry. Draft local laws (rancangan peraturan daerah) never to have made it out of the starting stalls included proposals in the public works and health sectors.
Meanwhile, other local laws, said to be based on sharia (Islamic) law, have been made and left untouched by the Central Government, despite their apparent inconsistency with the Constitution. Undoubtedly the Central Government has power to act against these laws, so there is an apparent inconsistency between the interventionist approach in relation to revenue/taxation issues and Central Government passivity in relation to sharia-based criminal laws.
This may be about to change, however. The President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was reported in 2009 (The Age, Melbourne, 11 July 2009) to have said during a televised election debate that “many regional regulations went too far in governing religious issues. Hopefully, there will be no more bylaws that run against the Constitution.”
The disallowance of local laws in Indonesia by the Central Government is an external intervention in the law-making process of local government, as indicated by the red arrow below—
Local Government in Indonesia is not unique in facing possible cancellation of laws soon after they are made (for further commentary click here). Nonetheless, there clearly are issues to be addressed:
- the number of laws cancelled is significant, creating uncertainty for Government and those affected by the laws;
- the criteria for intervention are ill-defined;
- non-revenue laws — particularly laws based on sharia law — remain in force despite their apparent inconsistency with the Constitution.