A
letter to Mr. President-elect
(Part
2 0f 2)
Binziad Kadafi ;
The
writer worked for the National Legal Reform Program (2008-2011) in Jakarta
and formerly worked as legal researcher at the Indonesian Center for Law and
Policy Studies (PSHK) and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
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JAKARTA
POST, 16 September 2014
Pak
Jokowi, your new friends might say that the figures are normal, that
Indonesians are a peace-loving people, that custom or adat helps a lot.
So
they do not need justice, as it is inherent within them. That is all true;
and also is so much nonsense. Indonesian society is mature, diverse, complex
and assertive.
But
surely, the large diverse cities of Jakarta and Surabaya, the industrial
estates of Cibinong and Cikampek in West Java, filled with mixed migrant
communities, generate their fair share of trouble and disagreements.
Are
these not communities whose rights are violated every day? This is part of
the supposedly articulate and assertive society that created reformasi, which
overthrew military dictatorship and created the democratic republic. This is
the society that chose a furniture salesman from Surakarta to become
president. It is supposedly a gloriously vibrant, energetic and utterly
modern society.
What
is more, the figures suggest that actually Indonesians need far more justice
than the institutions provide. Indonesians in the past actually brought more
cases to court than nowadays — even though society was smaller, sometimes
significantly so. The number of voluntary civil cases filed by Indonesians 20
years ago was significantly higher than it is now.
Even
in the colonial period, Indonesians filed more than 30,000 voluntary civil
cases in the colonial courts — twice the number filed now, even though there
were only about 45 million Indonesians at the time.
The
challenge going forward is to make the institutions of big justice deliver to
common Indonesian citizens. The big institutions get the money, the staff and
everything, but they have yet to provide what society needs.
The
fact is, currently, regular Indonesian citizens cannot get their rights
secured through the formal legal system. This applies in all domains: the
administrative domain, labor, truly voluntary litigation and for the
thousands of small corruption cases they are confronted with in their normal
lives.
As
far as the formal justice system goes, a contract cannot be enforced, an
unpaid debt is forfeit, damage cannot be claimed, security cannot be
realized, one’s investment is not recouped and small corruption goes
uncorrected.
The
reason is that the courts and law enforcement agencies remain unpredictable.
And even when a court decision comes down, it cannot be enforced.
Enforcement
of decision, which in many cases involve bailiffs, lawyers, and the police,
is often ineffective, and the process is costly.
There
is an enormous cost to this. Why do we have so many big courts and staff when
there are so few cases? Might it not be better to have a smaller
institutional apparatus with a bigger budget to provide proper service?
Another
cost aspect is that the absence of small justice inflicts a huge cost on the
country’s development. It increases unemployment, freezes the credit and
securities/mortgage market, keeps businesses small, reduces investment and
increases the cost of doing business.
This
particularly affects micro- and medium-enterprises, which constitute the
backbone of the Indonesian economy. Small entrepreneurs suffer the most when
the institutions of big justice do not reach them. But then you must know
this already, Mr. Jokowi, from your days as a businessman in Surakarta.
And
finally, the danger of a situation in which big justice does not answer
legitimate society’s needs is that society will drift away.
The
number of court cases is very small, but even so, the trend over the years
shows a further decline. There is a real danger that the state and its
institutions are slowly losing credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the
public. Until in the end, there will be nothing left but hope.
You
are that hope, Mr. President-elect. You and the other good people you need to
engage. You were elected by common Indonesians in a search for justice.
So
it is fine to listen to the big words and the big institutions. But what
matters now are the voices on the street that ask for the little things and
small justice and answer their hope by making justice serve the common
citizen.
Big
corruption is bad and should be fought, but it is the small corruption which
affects Indonesians most and shapes their perceptions.
Big
justice is important, but unless the institutions answer the needs of common
people, there will be resentment, anger, frustration and low-level violence;
all of which will hobble Indonesia from achieving growth to its fullest
potential. The challenge going forward is to deliver justice to common
Indonesians. ●
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