The final Anti Porn Law

“ Don’t you have other things to do? ” that's a question we use to ask other people whenever we think that they are doing things which are not worthwhile, as if they do not have a priority list of what they are doing.

That's the question that came across my mind when the People’s Representative Council (DPR) discussed the controversial Anti Porn Bill last year which was widely opposed by non fanatic people in our country especially in Bali, North Sulawesi, Papua, and Ambon. I was very surprised when the DPR finally passed said Bill on Thursday, 29 October 2008, in spite of the strong opposition. The reason why I was surprised is because many contents of the Bill are controversial among others Article 1 regarding the vague definition of Pornography, Article 20 regarding the possibility for ordinary citizens to take action against things/acts they consider as Pornography. So, if the said Bill of Law is passed, it might cause chaos in our society. Furthermore, at this moment the DPR is still discussing Bills of law which are far more important for our country, such as amendment of the Presidential Election Law, the Supreme Court Law, the Constitutional Law, the Judicial Commission Law, etc. Many reasons are given by those who are pro, such as a woman activist Lasmiantini told the Jakarta Post that the Anti Porn Law will protect women and children from the effect of pornography which could cause Rape and Murder. While another woman activist Wuryaningsih denied allegations that women might become unwitting victims of the Anti Porn Law, saying that the issue of woman was only “political”, and this Law has nothing to do with Islamic political parties. Meanwhile, Tempo reported that the Governor of Bali Made Mangku Pastika and the Governor of North Sulawesi Sinyo Harry Sarudajang have stated their disappointment on the DPR’s acceptance of Bill of the Anti Porn Law.
The arguments of those who are pro the Anti Porn Law is understandable, but it is difficult to understand is why the DPR seems to make this Law Bill a TOP PRIORITY, while there are the above far more important other Law Bills that should be determined. It would be much better to give more time for improvement of the Bill so that it would be less controversial thus more acceptable. That way, people would respect and willingly obey. The fact shows that there are some Laws which have been improved several times but cannot be implemented properly. For example the Copyright Law that has been amended three times but its implementation is poor, proven by the large circulation of pirate DVD/VCD/CD or computer software (including Blue Movies), at many shopping places in Jakarta and other cities in Indonesia. Why? Because of three reasons, first our people are not aware of Copyright, secondly the majority of our people have low income therefore prefer low priced hijack products than high priced originals, thirdly our law enforcement is still weak. Beside that, there are also many examples of poor implementation of the Law such as the transformation of a legally protected forest into commercial project in Bintan Island. And also the transformation of area which according to City Master Plan should be Water reservation (Green) area into commercial or residential area, causing terrible traffic jams and floods. All of which shows poor implementation of the laws.

Now that the DPR has passed the Anti Porn Law, we can only hope that the government would issue an implementation regulation which would minimize unfavorable effects of the said Law Bill so that it can be more acceptable and obeyed by the people. Or, alternatively, those who are opposing said Law may request a judicial review of the said Law with the Constitutional Court.
Moreover, let us hope that the DPR will now focus their works on Law Bills which are more important as mentioned above.

Image:Playboy

Online registration of companies

Last night, a friend of mine asked me how to establish a new company in Indonesia, and I replied that first of all he should create alternative names for the company; then decide its line of business, its capital, and its shareholders (at least two). Afterward he should ask a Notary Public to arrange legal process starting from checking the name that can be used for the company, prepare Article of Association etc. Since 2001, contacts with the Department of Law & Human Right, regarding establishment of companies, can be done through the website www.sisminbakum.com which provides information regarding laws & regulations in Indonesia that can be followed, studied and analyzed by the public. Besides, it also provides data bases regarding Companies, Notary Public, Professional and Social organizations. Services provided and their Tariffs are as follows :
1. To request for a Company Name Rp. 350.000(PPN10%)
2. To Establish or Amend Legal Entity Rp. 1.000.000(PPN10%)
3*.To check the Profile of a Company in Indonesia Rp. 250.000
(Directors,Shareholders,Capital,Purpose & Intention)
4*.Legal Consultation Rp. 500.000
*Based on the instruction of the Director General of Public Law Administration, the above Points 3 & 4 is being suspended until further notice.

In spite of the fact that this online system is still not 100% effective, however it would help Notary Public in providing a faster and better service for their clients. Unfortunately not all Notaries use the system, I know this because I have five Notary Public friends who still have not use it.

Image: FreeFoto.com

Legal costs for a Divorce

Almost every day we saw on TV, read on newspaper/magazine and heard on radio news about marriage break up of celebrities, the latest one being the Maia-Danny Achmad case.

Usually whenever a person wants to Divorce, he/she would focus attention on the calculation of the value of money that resulted from the split of Family Assets (Harta Gono Gini), the Alimony that should be paid for Child allowance, ex wife, and custody of their children. But they rarely consider the Court costs for the Divorce as an important matter. But the facts shows that the actual Legal Costs can be 5 times higher than the official costs. In this regards, there is an interesting article in today’s edition of Warta Kota, titled: “ If there is money, divorce process will be smooth”, which reported about the reality that exists when a Moslem lodge a Divorce Law suit with the Religious Court of East Jakarta. According to the said Court’s official charges, the costs would total Rp 416.000,- consisting of charges for submitting the Lawsuit Rp 381.000,- fee for State Treasury Rp 30.000,- fee for preparing Verdict Rp 5.000,- Beside that there additional fees for Issuance of Certificate Rp 5.000,-, and Legalization Rp 3.000,- However, such charges are not workable for a quick legal proceedings. For example, one lady who has initially agreed with her husband to divorce, has to spent Rp 2.650.000,- to get a Divorce Certificate after one and a half month Court proceedings. Another lady said hat she has paid Rp 1.000.000,- and the Court has passed a Divorce verdict one month ago, but until this morning she still has not receive a Divorce Certificate. Further, a male visitor to the Court said that the costs for processing Inheritance is much higher than that for Divorce. A Registrar staff of the East Jakarta Court i.e Patuhrozi admitted that there are some persons who use to act as intermediary for expediting Court proceedings, but they are not employees of said Court. He explained that the costs for legal proceedings at the Religious Court is ruled by Government Regulation No 53 Year 2008. However, attachment of said Regulation mentioned that the total charges should only be Rp 120.000,-

The above differences in tariffs (official & actual) for Court proceedings is certainly illegal, therefore should be eliminated as soon as possible. One way to do that is by maintaining strict control over the Court's officers. Besides, there should be a study on whether or not the current tariff is suitable. If necessary, tariff increase should be taken into consideration.

Image: FreeFoto.com

Murder in a Court Room

Around thirty years ago, I watched a Cowboy movie that shows a Sheriff shot to death by the Defendant in the Court room. Until yesterday morning, I believe that such tragic incident can only happen in movies and not in real life. Unfortunately this belief was shattered yesterday after I read an article in Kompas regarding the murder of a spectator of a Trial at the District Court of Central Jakarta. The tragic incident happened in Court room no. 306 at 5.30 pm after the Presiding Judge Martini Maryati closed the Trial of a Homicide Case regarding the murder of the Manager of Hotel Classic i.e Didi Pontoh by the Defendant James Venturi. A friend of the Victim i.e Stanley was stabbed to death and another friend Boy Waroka was badly beaten by the Defendant’s friends who came in large number to watch the Court Trial. After the rampage, the mob left the Court building taking various kinds of public transportation, and leaving behind in the Court room : wooden sticks and sharp objects which they used in the attack. According to a spokesman of the Court this tragedy happened because of two things, First the number of Court’s security guards were so small compared to the numbers of visitors, Secondly, the visitors, mostly friends of the Defendant, came in large numbers and it is not possible to limit them because Court Trials are supposed to be opened to Public.

The above news makes me very sad, because I always think that a Court Building is an “ Excellent Place ” where people can expect to get hope, peace, order and justice. It never crossed my mind that violence or even murder would ever happen in such place. And considering that the function of a Court is to settle disputes among conflicting parties, therefore vulnerable for violence; anticipatory measures should be taken to safe guard the Court. Sufficient & effective method should be used, for example by providing enough guards, police protection & electronic surveillance; visitors should be scrutinized to make sure that they do not bring any kinds of weapons. Moreover, considering the limited capacity of Court rooms, the number of visitors should be limited according to capacity of the rooms. That way the Courts can function optimally, and seekers of justice can have peace of mind.

Image: Okezone

The Death Execution

" An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth " that's an old adage which implies that those who hurt others should be punished accordingly. It is this idea that law makers have in their minds when determining the punishments for those who violated the laws. There are many methods of punishment allowed by the law, the most controversial one being the Death Penalty i.e. those who caused the death of others should be punished to death. The Death Penalty has been imposed on those who committed crimes against the state e.g Terrorists, and ruthless/cruel crimes such as Drug Traders. Currently, there has been controversy on the method of death execution for the three Terrorists i.e Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron, who have murdered in cold blood 202 people in Bali, whereby their lawyers have requested the Constitutional court to revoke that the execution not to be carried out by shooting because such method would cause great pain to the convicts. The Jakarta Post reported that on Tuesday 21 October 2008, the Constitutional Court has reject this request clearing the way for their execution. The Court further rejected the convicts' request for beheaded instead which they claimed more in line with the Islamic law and their lawyers think less cruel than shot to death. According to the Presiding Judge, there is no method of execution without pain, and the convicts suffering is a logical consequence of death penalty and cannot be categorized as torturing the convicts.

Considering that the Death Penalty has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, and now the Constitutional Court has made its decision on the method, in order to achieve legal certainty and maintain peace and order in our society, all the parties concerned should obey said decision.

Image:BruceOnGames

The ASEAN Charter

A unification of ASEAN Countries? Is it good for Indonesia? These questions always comes to my mind whenever I read, heard news regarding plans to unify ASEAN countries. Because the facts shows that since its formation in the year 1967, ASEAN has been a loose type organization of countries in South East Asia, whereby each member countries are free to adopt policies according to their own wish, and agreements reached by ASEAN only serve as some sort of guidance. The main reason is perhaps because the 10 members has lots of differences among them, the current border despute between Thai and Cambodian armies proves this. Efforts have been made by its members to make ASEAN more unified, for example on 20 November 2007, the ASEAN Head of States/Governments signed the Asean Charter. According to Trade Minister Mari Pangestu, as quoted by Antara, this Asean Charter will function like a legal umbrella for the formation ASEAN Economic Community by the year 2015. Realization of this Charter became more hopeful on 21 October 2008 when Indonesia finally shows that it will ratify the treaty after the Indonesian Parliament (DPR) accepted the Law Bill regarding ASEAN Chapter. According to Kompas, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda has stated that with Indonesia's ratification of the Chapter, it can be ascertained that the Charter will become officially effective during the next Summit Meeting of Asean Leaders in Bangkok on 13-14 December 2008.He further stated that ratification of the Charter by all Asean countries is the first step of a huge project to change Asean from a loose organization into a community.

As a member whose area and population is far more larger than any other members
of ASEAN, Indonesia should make extra careful consideration before we implement the Asean Charter. We should consider what benefits can we get, and whether or not we are ready Economically and Politically. And if by the year 2015 we are still not ready we should ask for postponement of the realization of the Chapter. Otherwise we would only be a huge market place for products of other ASEAN countries.

KPK strikes again!

KPK once again shows that it is very serious in doing its duties to eliminate coruption in our country. Bravo! According to the Jakarta Post, KPK spokeman Johan Budi announced on Friday that KPK has arrested 6 suspects involved in the corruption at the Department of Manpower & Transmigration in the year 2004. They were allegely involved in foul play in said Department's equipment procurement for its training centers throughout our country causing a state loss of Rp 13.6 Billion. Appointment of suppliers was carried out without tender thus violated the 2003 Presidential Decree regarding standard procedures for procurement of goods and services for the government. The suspects will be charged of violating Article 2 and 3 of the Anti Corruption Law, with a penalty between four until life imprisonment. On the same day, KPK also arrested two officers of our Consulates in Kuching and Tawau, Malaysia i.e Irsafly Rasul and Makdum Tahir respectively, for allegation of manipulation of Immigration fees during the period of 1995 until 2005 which cause the state to suffer financial loss of Rp 11.7 Billion. KPK has named 9 suspects for this case, including two of our former Consuls in Kota Kinabalu i.e Arifin Hamzah and Mohammad Sukarna.

We are very happy that KPK has been very dilligent in eliminating corruption in Indonesia. But considering there are so many corruption cases to be investigated, let us hope that it will give priority to handle corruption cases which have caused much greater losses to the state, as the BLBI cases, illegal logging cases, etc. While the other cases (with lesser value of state loss) can be handled by the Attorney General Office.

Image:KPK

Financial System Security Net

Since the last few weeks, the mass media has constantly reported about the worsening economic condition of countries like USA, Japan, European Union, although their governments have taken emergency actions to cope with the crisis. In this connection on Wednesday 15 October our President issued another emergency law to anticipate the current global economic crisis i.e Perpu 4/2008 regarding the Financial System Security Net. This law is effective on 16 October and will give power to the Central Bank (Bank Indonesia/BI) and the Department of Finance to take over Shareholder Meeting of a national bank or financial institution that failed to to function properly. Kompas reported that the Minister of Finance as ad interim Coordinating Minister for Economy Sri Mulyani made this announcement on Thursday 16 October, explaining that The main purpose is to prevent and handle crisis by Providing Financial or Funding Facility, Temporary Equity participation, Insentive and Facility to expedite solving of problems faced by the Private Sector. It would be possible for the government to issue a special financial instrument for BI, afterwards the fund will be channelled to financial institution that is facing a sistemic crisis. Such instruments consists of Providing Emergency Financial Facility and Providing Additional Share through temporary Equity Participation. If a bank received the Emergency Financial Facility, BI will be authorized to change the bank's board of directors, and place a bank under special surveilance.

With all the extra authorities given by the 3 new Perpu, the government now has all the power it needs to minimize the impact of the current global economic crisis on our economy. Let us hope that those powers will be used properly according to the laws, regulations and common sense so that our country's economy will recover soon.

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New blood for Supreme Court

The age limits our ability to think and do things, that is an undeniable facts.
It is for this reason that employers make retirement plans for their employees.
With this way of thinking on their mind, the Parliament (DPR) has selected 6 candidates to replace 6 existing Supreme Court Judges who has reached or even passed the retirement age of 65 years old. According to Kompas after having tested 18 candidates, the 3rd Committee of the DPR considered all of them poorly meets the standard requirements. The 6 were selected because they are slightly better than the other 12. The Head of the 3rd Comittee Trimedya Pandjaitan stated that the Judicial Commission should have conducted more careful selection before the candidates were presented to the DPR, and they should pay careful attention on the age of the candidates. One of them i.e. Djafni Djamal is 63 years old, whereas the retirement age is 65 years old. The selected candidates are: Suwardi (Deputy Chief of the Jakarta High Court), Djafni Djamal (Deputy Chief of West Sumatera High Court), Mahdi S. Nasution (Deputy Chief of Riau High Court), Syamsul Maarif (Head of the KPPU/Commission for Supervision of Business Competition), Tahdir Rahmadi (Lecturer at the Andalas University) and Andi A. Saleh (Lecturer at the Hasanuddin University).

Considering the above fact and current public concern over the performance of the Supreme Court, I felt that it is not easy to select the candidates, therefore we cannot blame the Judicial Commission for not providing DPR with better candidates. Now that they have been selected, it is much better for the DPR to make sure those candidates are fully committed to do their duties only for the interests of the state and nation of Indonesia. Perhaps by asking them to make the commitments in writing, mentioning time frame and consequence of failure.

Guaranteed Bank Deposit

Economic Crisis has always bring bad impact on our life, that is a well known fact! However, past experience shows that Crisis can also bring positive impact for us, in the sense that it would force us to think and make best efforts for improvements so that we can lead our lives more efficiently and effectively. With regards to the current crisis, our mass media reported this morning that on Monday 13 October, the government has issued two Decrees/emergency laws (PERPU), that would enhance people to increase their savings in the bank, enhance banks to give credits, as follows :
The First Decree amended Law No.25 Year 2004 regarding Saving Guarantee Institution, that increased the amount of Guaranteed Saving Deposits from One Hundred Million Rupiah to Two Billion Rupiah. According to the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, this means an increase in guaranteed bank deposits from 10% to 97% of bank deposits owned by 81 Million Depositors.
The Second Decree amended Law No. 3 Year 2004 regarding Bank Indonesia, that eased the condition for banks to obtain Bridging Loans from the Central Bank (Bank Indonesia). Currently, only High Quality and Liquid Assets, among others Certificate of Bank Indonesia and State Bonds, can be used as collateral for Bridging Loans. Now, banks may use their smooth collectible credit assets (Performing Loan) as Collateral.
Actually there is an additional Decree which amend the Law Bill regarding Financial System Security Net which has just been brought to the parliament (DPR).
The above decrees became effective and came into force immediately after their signing by the President on Monday, 13 October 2008.

The 20 fold increase in the amount of Saving Deposits guaranteed by the government will surely bring peace of mind to everyone who has Bank Deposits, but there is no guarantee that it would totally prevent people from buying USDollars. Whilst the ease in condition for Bridging Loans will provide better opportunity for the banks to get broader financial source, thereby making it possible for the banks to provide more loans.

Copyright for Traditional Arts

" It's very difficult to request Copyright registration for Asmat Wood Carving! " that's the title of an article in Kompas last Sunday, 12 October. It also mentioned that efforts has been made to obtain Copyright registration in Indonesia and abroad but all in vain. Unfortunately, the article did not mention details like specific of the Creation i.e. title, characteristics etc, whether or not the Creation has been publicized, name of the applicant for Copyright. This article is surprising, because logically there should not be any problem to register parts of our national treasure like the Asmat Wood Carving in our country which already promulgated 4 Copyrights Laws including 3 amendments i.e. Law No. 6 Year 1982, amended by Law No.7 Year 1987, amended by Law No.12 Year 1997, amended by Law No.19 Year 2002. In order to know the fact of the matter, we need to know the definition of Copyright, Creation, Creator, according to Article 1 of the Copyright Law No.19 Year 2002, as follows :
1.A Copyright is an Exclusive Right of a Creator or Recipient of the Right to publicize and multiply a Creation or to permit others to do it based on valid laws;
2.A Creator is a person or several persons working together and inspired to make a Creation based on their own Thinking, Imagination,Creativity, which are manifested
in a special form and characteristic.
3.A Creation is any original work of a Creator in the fields of Science, Art and Literature;
4.A Holder of a Copyright is a Creator as Owner of the Creation, or other party which receive such right from the Creator, other party that receive a right from said
Recipient;
5.Publication is Reading, Broadcasting, Exhibiting, Distributing, or Circulating a Creation using any methods, including by Internet or any other ways, so that such Creation can be Read, Heard or Seen by other people;
Article 2 defined Copyright as an Exclusive Right of a Creator or Holder of Copyright
to publicize or multiple his/her Creation automatically after a Creation was made.
Article 6 defined that, unless proven otherwise, a Creator is a person who is registered in the Directorate General of Intellectual Property, or a person whose name is mentioned in a creation or publicized as the Creator of a Creation.
Article 10 stipulates about Creations whose Creators are unknown:
1.The state is the Copyright Holder of Prehistorical works, History, and other National cultural products;
2.The state is Copyright Holder of Folklore and Common people's cultural products
such as stories,tales,legends, babad, song, handicraft,choreography,calligraphy, dance and other works of arts;
3.In order to publicize or multiply Creation in Paragraph 2, a Foreigner must obtain
a prior permit from institution related to said matter;
Article 11 stipulates that if a Creation has been publicized but the Creator is unknown, the State will be its Copyright Holder for the interest of the Creator;

Based on the above, we can say that Copyright Registration is not the only way to protect a Creation, but for better protection and legitimate evidence, Copyright Registration is the best. For Traditional Work of Art, like the Asmat Wood Carving, application should be made by a Creator for example by the Chief of the Tribe. If there are several types of products, separate applications should be submitted for each types, mentioning specific characteristics of each type. The date and place of Creation and Publication (if already publicized) should be mentioned too.

Image: Wikipedia

Corruption at our Embassy in Beijing

The Attorney General Office is investigating corruption charges related to misuse of Visa, Passport & Special Travel Document fees by officials of our Embassy in Beijing between the years 2000 and 2004. According to the Assistant Attorney General for Special Crimes Marwan Effendi the corruption has caused the state to have loss the amount of 10.27 million Yuan (US$ 1.5 Million) and US$ 9,613.00. He explained that on 24 September 1999 our Ambassador there issued a decree regarding collection of the above Immigration fees, charging an applicant 55 Yuan (US$ 7.00) per Passport. However, the money did't go to the state, but go to the pockets of individuals.
When news reporters asked him to mention name of the Embassy's officials, Marwan declined by saying that the investigation is still underway. According to The Jakarta Post, between the years 1999 and 2004, our Ambasadors serving in Beijing were Leut.Gen.(Ret) Kuntara, and Rear Admiral (Ret) Anak Agung Kustia.
Meanwhile, MetroTV reported that our current Ambassador to Beijing Sudradjat has stated that he will give full support to the investigation.

It is very sad to hear about the corruption that took place at our embassy in Beijing as well as previous reports of corruption by our embassy officials in other countries, considering that the officials are representatives of our country who were provided with Diplomatic privileges & immunities. Let us hope that the investigations and legal proceedings that have been carried out would serve as lessons for other officials of our embassies around the world, so that the image of our country would not be marred any further. But above all, let us hope that the principle of Presumption of Innocence would be upheld in the handling of this case.

Anti Tobacco Lawsuit

We all know that cigarette smoking is very unhealthy, this fact is clearly mentioned on the warning on every package of cigarettes. And in the year 2003 the World Health Organization adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which urged for the limitation of Cigarette smoking, among others by imposing higher Tax. It has been ratified by 157 countries, except for Indonesia. This is an irony, because according to the National Economy and Social surveys conducted in 2003-2005, Cigarette is the Second biggest expenditure of poor families in Indonesia, after Rice. However, it is seemingly very difficult to control the sales-purchase of cigarettes, perhaps because Cigarettes contributes high revenue for the government, and its factories absorbs many workers. Maybe those are the reasons why the Tobacco Bill is still pending in Parliament (DPR) since 2005.
Sick and tired of the situation, on 19 July 2008, four Anti Tobacco NGOs i.e the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), the Jakarta Residents Forum (FAKTA), the Institute for Combatting Smoking (LM3) and the Coalition for a Healthy Indonesia (KUIS) filed a lawsuit against the government and 2 cigarette manufacturers, with the District Court of Central Jakarta. The objectives are to force the government and parliament to ratify the World Health Organization's FCTC, and to make the Parliament to finalize the Tobacco Bill by the year 2008/2009. As usual, the Court asked the disputing parties to settle the dispute amicably, but somehow mediation broke down at the end of August. Until 10 October, no progress has been made because the government representatives were not present.

Considering that cigarette smoking in Indonesia has reached a very alarming situation whereby we can easily see every day people from all walks of life, smoking cigarettes almost everywhere, it is about time to intensify the anti tobacco campaign. This doesn't mean that cigarettes should banned, only limitations should be more strict, for example by forbidding smoking in public places.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Suspension of the JSX

Headlines of today's newspapers are dominated by the decision of the Jakarta Stock Exchange to suspend all transactions on Wednesday, 8 October at 11 am, after the Stock Index plummeted more than 10%. According to the President Director of JSX Erry Firmansyah, the suspension has been made because transaction has developed irrationally, although the value of transaction is not very big i.e. only below Rp 1 Trillion, but the Stock Index dropped very sharply. Actually the Stock Index has shown indication to drop since Monday 6 October, and it even droped to more than 10% on Tuesday 7 October at 15.29, but considering that it was almost closing time, no
suspension was made. He further said that the cause of the problem is the U.S economic crisis. Considering this fact, President SBY has instructed 14 State Owned Enterprises listed in JSX to buy back its shares from the public. Meanwhile, on Tuesday 7 October, the Central Bank has increased the interest rate to 0.25%, which is contrary to what has been done by other countries' Central Banks that have cut their interest rates.

In view of the above, I felt that the devastation caused by the panick selling of stocks could have been prevented or at least minimised if the suspension of JSX has been done on Monday or Tuesday when the Index has fallen rapidly. The late suspension has enabled spectulators to take advantage by selling huge quantity of stocks causing great panick among other traders. Now that the 'water is under the bridge' let us hope & pray that the government will carry out a better coordinated bail out plan for this problem.

Income Tax Incentive

In the wake of the worsening global economic crisis, on Monday 6 October 2008, the government has issued a regulation to attract investors to do their business in Indonesia i.e Government Regulation No.62 Year 2008 regarding the Amendment of Government Regulation No.1 Year 2007 regarding Income Tax facility for Investments on certain Business Sectors and/or certain Location. The number of Business Sectors that will get the Income Tax Incentive has been increased from 15 to 23 Business Sectors. While the number of Location for Investment has been increased from 9 to 15 locations. The Income Tax Facility consists of 30% deduction of Nett Income Tax for the investment period of 6 years i.e 5% a year; expedited devaluation & amortisation; Income Tax on Devidents paid to foreign tax subjects of 10%; and loss compensation for the period between 5 and 10 years. This regulation also offers Income Tax Incentive for Cement Factory that has been devastated by the Tsunami since 1 January 2005.
An official of the Coordinating Minister of Economy Mahendra Siregar stated that the government will keep on improving the Investment Climate by issuing various policies and actions. Previously, on Sunday 5 October, the Ad Interim Coordinating Minister of Economy Sri Mulyani has stated that the government will stick to its current policies set forth in the Presidential Instruction No.5 Year 2008 regarding Economic Programm Focus for the year 2008-2009, as well as other specific policies.

Judicial Operation

In an effort to minimize the number of new comers in the capital city, the Jakarta government will conduct a Population Judicial Operation on 23 and 30 October 2008. The Head of the Population & Civil Registration Section Franky Panjaitan stated on Monday 6 October that the operation will involve more than 400 joint personels of the Social Section, the Law & Order Section, the Police, District Attorney office and the District Court. This operation will be continued in November and December 2008, with a total budget of Rp 900 million. Further, he said that the purpose is not to keep new comers away from Jakarta, because basically everyone may come to Jakarta as long as they fulfill the population administrative requirements. Those who stayed more than 14 days should obtain staying permit from the local village (Kelurahan). For which purpose they should bring official letter from the authority at their place of origin, have a clear place to stay, and have clear job. If they only want to stay temporarily, the local village(Kelurahan) will give them temporary Identity card. If they want to stay permanently, they should fulfill all the requirements. Visitors who don't have an Identity Card or Temporary Stay Permit shall be fined with the maximum amount of Rp 5 million, or maximum imprisonment of 3 months. Last year there were 2,000 people punnished. Further, the government will send Beggars and Tramps back to their home town, for which purpose the government will provide transportation. This operation which is conducted based on Provincial Regulation No.4 Year 2004, has been protested by Human Rights activists because it would be contrary to the United Nations Human Right Convention which has been ratified by the Indonesian government and People's Representative Council in 2005.
Although the Judicial Operation may be justified to limit the number of illegal people coming to the city, however it should be supplemented by other actions such as : being firm on the usage of land based on the city's Master Plan. For example, maintainance of 'Open/green Land' according to the city's Master Plan. Parks should remain parks. Lands that are close to waterways should not be inhabitted. The fact shows that many lands which are supposed to be for parks are used for shopping malls, empty lands very closed to waterways are filled with housings, all of which decreased area needed for water reservoir and causing floods. And usage of trotoir/ pavement public roads by street hawkers has narrowed the roads & caused traffic jam.

Bar Examination 2008

The Indonesian Advocates Association (PERADI) will held the Advocate Profession Examination for the year 2008, on Saturday, 6 December 2008, from 9 am until finished. Here are the materials for the examination:
1.The Role, Function & Development of Advocate Association
2.The Advocate Codes of Ethics
3.The Civil Procedural Law
4.The Crimminal Procedural Law
5.The Religion Civil Procedural Law
6.Industrial Relations Procedural Law
7.State Administrative Procedural Law
8.Essay: Civil Procedural Law, or Alternative Dispute Settlement
Costs:
1.New Registration: Rp 700.000,- not included bank charges
2.Repeat Registration: Rp 500.000,- not included bank charges
3.By transfer to BCA KCU Mangga Dua, Account no: 335.3.01948.8 in the names of Julius Rizaldi & Thomas E. Tampubolon.
4.Payment should mention the names of registrants & place of registration,payment by ATM or e-banking will not be accepted.
Conditions for New Registration :
1.Citizen of the Republic of Indonesia
2.Complete registration form and attach the following:
a.Photcopy of Identity Card (KTP)
b.Photocopy of the Bank payment slip and show the original
c.4 Photo, size : 3x4
d.Photocopy of Law diploma legalized by the University concerned
e.Photocopy of PKPA certificate issued by PERADI
Conditions for Repeated Registration :
1.Fulfilled the above Points no. 2a till 2c, and
2.Receipt of documents for Bar Exam 2005, 2006 or 2007.
Application for Registration :
Monday until Friday, 20 to 24 October 2008, 9 am till 5 pm, at 19 cities throughout Indonesia. Jakarta: Gedung IASTH, 3rd Fl, Post Graduate Programme of the University of Indonesia, Jalan Salemba Raya 4, Jakarta 10430. The form can be obtained during registration, or downloaded from the websites : www.peradi.or.id, or www.hukumonline.com. For further information, please contact PERADI Secretariat, Ariobimo Sentral, Mezzanine Floor, Jl.H.R. Rasuna Said Blok X-2, Kav.5, Jakarta 1290. Phones: (21) 522-6184, Fax: (021) 522-6185.
Notes:
1.Examination results shall be based on the evaluation of the Participants.
2.The decission of the Exam Comittee shall be announced on the above websites.

Execution of the Bali bombers

In spite of the fact that the Constitutional Court is still examining the request of the attorneys of the Bali bomber(Imam Samudra,Ali Gufron,Amrozi) for judicial review of the method of execution stipulated by Law 569/Pnps/1964, Tempo reported that the Attorney General Office will carry out the execution within this year. According to the spokeman of the AGO i.e Jasman Panjaitan, the exact date has still not been decided yet, pending the decission of the Supreme Court on the Judicial Review. But if the Constitutional Court failed to pass decision immediately, the AGO plan to carry on with the execution by the end of this year. The Judicial Review has been requestd by the Bali bombers' team of attorneys, because execution method stipulated by the above Law will ruthlessly torture their clients who has ruthlessly killed 202 people in Bali in 2002. So, they asked the said Law to be revoked.
Considering that the Constitutional Court has other cases that must be decided, it would be best if it can make immediate decision on this case. Let us hope that whatever decision the Constitutional Court will make on this case, it will only be based on the best interest of all the people in our country.