Indonesian Law

Indonesia has a growing population of almost 300 million people, it is increasingly involved in world affairs, and has a booming economy. The need to better understand its unique, complex, and often obscure legal system, has become pressing. This is true across a wide range of sectors including, but not limited to, trade and investment, crime and terrorism, and human rights. Indonesia's democratization after the fall of Soeharto in 1998 triggered massive social and political changes that opened up this diverse, and formerly tightly-controlled, society. Law reform was a key driver of Indonesia's transformation and its full effect remains to be seen. This book offers clear and detailed explanations of the foundations of Indonesia's legal system in the context of its legal reform and rapid development. It offers succinct commentaries on a wide range of issues, examining the judicial process, the constitution, corruption and the court system, contract law, administrative law, foreign investment, taxation, Islamic law, and family law. It examines current substantive law and judicial interpretation and presents case studies of how the system operates in practice. Written in an accessible and engaging style, this book is an essential guide for readers seeking quick and clear answers to questions regarding the law and its application in Indonesia.

1 - The Constitution and State Institutions
2 - Indonesian laws and lawmaking
3 - Decentralisation
4 - The Judicial System
5 - The Constitutional Court
6 - The Legal Profession
7 - Traditional and Customary Law (Adat)
8 - Land Law and Forestry
9 - Environmental Law
10 - Substantive Criminal Law
11 - Criminal Procedure (Pre-Trial)
12 - Criminal Procedure (Trials and Appeals)
13 - Human Rights Law
14 - Corruption Law
15 - The Civil Code, Civil Liability and Contract Law
16 - Company Law
17 - Labour Law
18 - Foreign Investment
19 - Financial Laws: Tax, Insolvency, and Banking
20 - Competition Law
21 - Media Law
22 - Marriage, Divorce, and Inheritance

Tim Lindsey AO is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, the Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law, and director of the Centre for Islamic Law and Society at the University of Melbourne's law school, and a visiting professor at universities in Indonesia and Malaysia. He has previously been an Australian Research Council Federation fellow and director of the Asian Law Centre at Melbourne Law School. Tim completed his doctoral thesis in Indonesian studies and researches and teaches in Indonesian. He is a founder and editor of The Australian Journal of Asian Law and has produced more 100 than publications, mostly on Indonesian law, including Indonesia: Law and Society (Federation Press, 2008), Islam, Law and the State in Southeast Asia (three volumes, I.B. Tauris 2012) and Religion, Law and Intolerance in Indonesia (Routledge, 2012, with Helen Pausacker). Simon Butt is Professor of Indonesian Law and Associate Director of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney, where he teaches and researches Indonesian law. He has held an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and currently holds an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. He completed his doctoral thesis on Indonesia's Constitutional Court, and researches and teaches in Indonesian. He has written widely on aspects of Indonesian law, including The Constitutional Court and Democracy (Brill, 2015), Corruption and Law in Indonesia (Routledge, 2012), and The Constitution of Indonesia: a Contextual Analysis (Hart, 2012, co-authored with Tim Lindsey).