Indonesia

• Author: Mas Achmad Santosa
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716208328466
• Published date: 01 March 2009
• Date: 01 March 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

310 ANNALS, AAPSS, 622, March 2009

Since 1997, class actions filing procedures have

appeared in environmental, consumer protection, and

forestry laws with increasing use. Pending clarification

of detailed procedural aspects in expected legislation,

the Supreme Court has issued an interim Regulation.

Keywords: class actions; environmental law; consumer

protection and forestry laws; Supreme

Court Regulation No. 1 of 2002; opt out

The Indonesian Legal System

The Indonesian system is akin to the civil law

system, since the Indonesian legal system has

historically been strongly influenced by the legal

system introduced by the colonial administration

of the Dutch, who ruled this territory for 350

years. This can be seen in chapter II of Transitional

Regulation of the 1945 Constitution. However,

the supporting legal subsystem contains the influ-

ences of customary laws, Islamic law, and other

Western laws, so the result is complex. Judicial

power is carried out by the Supreme Court and

judicial institutions under it, namely, general

courts, religious courts, military courts, adminis-

trative courts, and the constitutional court.1 The

Civil Law Procedure, HIR (Herziene Indonesische

Reglement),2 was inherited from the Dutch East

Indies administration and derives from IR

(Inlandsche Reglement) contained in Staatsblaad

No. 16 in conjunction with 57/1848, still remain-

ing in force.3 The HIR does not address class

actions or class representatives.

Public Interest Litigation

After some attempts to bring class procedures,4

a successful class action emerged in Indonesia

Indonesia

By

MAS ACHMAD SANTOSA

Mas Achmad Santosa is senior advisor, Human Rights,

Legal, and Justice Sector Reform, UNDP Indonesia, and

Founder of the Indonesian Centre for Environmental

Law (ICEL).

DOI: 10.1177/0002716208328466