KONSEP JUDICIAL REVIEW DI INDONESIA DAN PERKEMBANGANNYA

judicial-review2.jpgMembahas mengenai konsep Judicial Review di Indonesia bukanlah perkara yang mudah, mengingat konsep ini baru mulai berkembang dalam praktiknya setelah terjadinya amandemen UUD 1945. Mulai dari penggunaan istilahnya pun sudah mengundang berbagai perdebatan. Istilah judicial review, constitutional review, constitutional adjudication, toetsingrecht, seringkali menjadi tumpang-tindih antara satu dengan lainnya. Sebelum Penulis membahas secara khusus mengenai hal ini, ada baiknya Penulis sampaikan diskusi singkat mengenai judicial review terkait dengan praktik ketatanegaraan RI pasca amandemen UUD 1945.

Berikut ini merupakan petikan diskusi antara Penulis dengan Prof. Yusril Ihza Mahendra dalam salah satu artikelnya.

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PERKEMBANGAN ILMU PERBANDINGAN HUKUM

 

court-law2.pngPemahaman dan pembenahan kembali terhadap pendidikan hukum di tengah-tengah masyarakat dapat menjadi jendela masa depan bagi pelaksanaan sistem hukum yang dianut. Dalam hal ini, seseorang akan menemukan kerangka ekspresi dan tingkah laku dasar mengenai hukum; apakah hukum itu, apakah yang harus dilakukan oleh para ahli hukum, bagaimana suatu sistem hukum bekerja atau bagaimana seharusnya suatu sistem beroperasi. Melalui pendidikan hukum, budaya hukum terus dialirka dari satu generasi ke generasi selanjutnya.  

Pendidikan hukum memberi peluang kepada kita untuk dapat turut menentukan arah dan masa depan dari suatu masyarakat. Mereka yang akan menjadi penentu sistem hukum dan mengisi posisi-posisi penting kepemimpinan di dalam pemerintahan dan sektor privat, pada umumnya akan jatuh terutama kepada para ahli hukum, setidaknya hal ini terjadi pada masyarakat dunia barat, atau mereka yang lulus dari sekolah hukum. Apa yang mereka pelajari dan bagaimana hal tersebut diajari kepada mereka sedikit banyak telah memberikan efek dan nuansa terhadap tujuan akhir mereka, tingkah laku mereka dan cara-cara bagaimana mereka mengambil peran penting di dalam kehidupan sosial kemasyarakatan. 

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HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION AS A BASIC FOUNDATION OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDONESIA
 

sustainable-development2.gifAccording to the Human Development Report 2007 launched by the United Nation Development Programme, The Human Development Index for Indonesia is 0.728 which gives the country a rank of 107th out of 177 countries. It is ranked 7th among the South East Asian countries. Nevertheless Indonesia, however, has abundant natural resources, huge human capital and relatively well developed infrastructure as compared to the other South East Asian countries.

The most significant cause for the condition mentioned above is the drawback of sustainable development in Indonesia. Some people strongly believe that raising the challenge of sustainable development can help the Indonesian policy debate go forward in a better direction. At the heart of the problem is how to deal with promoting the sustainable development of Indonesia. One of the best approaches can be viewed from the perspective of human rights protection for the people.

Basically sustainable development encompasses three pillars based on environmental, economic, and social values which are interdependent and mutually reinforcing with human rights. Between sustainable development and human rights there is an inseparable relationship whereas the respect for human rights has been recognized as a prerequisite for development. For instance, people’s ability to participate in sustainable development is hindered when fundamental rights of people are threatened or lack the basic human rights of food, health, education, shelter, freedom of expression and the right to political participation. In another word, without respect for human rights, the ability of people to move to a sustainable future will be hindered.

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“KOPI DARAT” DAN RENCANA PELUNCURAN RESMI
INDONESIAN BLAWGGER NETWORK (IBN)
“I was confirmed in my conviction that it was not impossible to practise law without compromising truth. Let reader, however, remember that even truthfulness in the practice of the profession cannot cure it of the fundamental defect that vitiates it”
- Mahatma Gandhi -

New Delhi - Ditandai dengan penetapan “Hari Blogger Nasional” setiap tanggal 27 Oktober yang dicanangkan langsung oleh Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika, Muhammad Nuh, dalam acara Pesta Blogger 2007, telah menjadikan fenomena World Blogging di Indonesia kian hari kian marak. Menurut catatan terakhir, dari 88 juta Blogger di seluruh dunia, saat ini terdapat kurang lebih 130.000 Blogger Indonesia yang turut meramaikan lalu-lintas dunia maya dari seluruh penjuru belahan dunia.

Perjalanan dalam mengarungi dunia perbloggingan ini pun bagi saya pribadi belumlah lama, yaitu baru akan menginjak tahun ketiga pada akhir Februari mendatang. Namun demikian, manfaat dan perkembangan informasi pengetahuan dan jaringan yang saya peroleh dapat dikatakan jauh lebih besar dibandingkan dengan waktu yang saya luangkan dalam mengelola blog ini.

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LAW AND THE LIBERATION OF BONDED LABOUR IN INDIA

I. Introduction

Bonded labour is widely prevalent in many regions in India. The main feature of the system is that the debtor pledges his person or that a member of his family for a loan and is released on the repayment of the debt.

Bonded labour is referred to by different names in different regions. The Elayaperumal Committee mentions the following:

  • Gothi in Orissa;
  • Machindari in Madya Pradesh;
  • Sagri in Rajasthan;
  • Vet Begar and Salbandi in Maharastha;
  • Jana, Manihi or Ijhari in Jammu and Kashmir;
  • Jeetha in Mysore;
  • Vetti in Tamil Nadu.

In the beginning of the twentieth century the system combined the elements of exploitation, patronage and protection at least in some regions. But with increasing trend towards the money-economy and changes in the types of use to which agricultural land is put, the element of patronage disappeared and that of exploitation persisted. (more…)

DOWRY AND BRIDE PRICE IN INDIA: A Socio-Legal Perspective

A. Introduction

Problem related to dowry have come to the attention of Indian social workers from 1960’s onwards. Dowry induced violence may be physical or mental, overt or covert. Dowry has been referred to as a social cancer, a cruel custom and an insult to the dignity of women. It has been crystallized in Indian society and, despite legislation, cases of dowry harassment and dowry deaths are increasing every year.

The National Commission for women in India in one of its year reports (2000) states that everyday, almost every six hours, somewhere at some place in India, a young married woman is being burnt alive or beaten to death or being pushed the commit suicide. Over the past few years, the cases of bride burning have registered a sharp increase through-out India.

B. Conception

1. Dowry

Dowry has been referred and may defined as “unilateral transfer of resources from the bride’s family at marriage to the groom’s family for inviting her to their home permanently and that dowry is, therefore, a compensatory payment to the family which agrees to shelter her hypothetically for the rest of her life. 2. Bride PriceDowry implies ritual and secular transfer of gifts from the family of the bride to that of the groom. On the other hand, bride price implies transfer of gifts from the family of the groom to that of the bride with or without similar transfer from the family of the bride that of the groom. (more…)

THE ROLE OF NON-STATE LAW IN INDIA

I. Introduction

B.S. Cohn (1959) maintains rightly that the way a people settles disputes is part of its social structure and value system. The indigenous and the ‘official’ legal systems differ rather drastically on both these aspects.

Indian villages are ‘multiplex’ societies; and the ‘network of relationships’ thus involved cannot be summarily cut by a decision of the court. Nor do the notions of relevancy engendered by law of procedure and evidence and the winner-take-it-all principle of the adversary system rhyme with the ‘traditional preference for settling disputes through consensus and with liberalism in the notions of relevant matters shown by the indigenous tribunals.

The State Legal System pervasive in urban areas is only slenderly preset in rural areas. The low visibility of state legal system and its slender presence renders official law (its values and process) in accessible and even irrelevant for people. Other factors, such as the language of the law which is alien to about 95 per cent of the people, compound to distance between the state’s law and people. All these variables make the relationship between State Legal System (SLS) and Non-State Legal System (NSLS) a very complex affair. Failing empirically informed evaluation, one can recourse to aprioristic or ideological basis, whether in terms of Gandhi’s ideal of Ram-Rajya or in terms of Henderson’s analysis of traditional conciliation and the growth of democratic legality. (more…)

LAW AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL CHANGE


I. INTRODUCTION

Law is rooted in social institutions, in socio-economic network. These social factors influence the course of law or the direction of legal change. This is the outcome of personal and social interactions which are variable and often unpredictable. At the same time, law may itself change social norms in various ways.

For example, in free India, legal abolition of untouchability is an attempt to change a long-standing social norm. Yet it has not succeeded much due to inadequate social support. Thus there is a reciprocal relationship between law and society.

This article will discuss about the law and its impact in social change with special reference from Indian society.

II. DEFINITION

Lawrence Friedman and Jack Ladinsky, however, in the context of a discussion of the social effects of law adopt a definition of social change as “any non-repetitive alteration in the established modes of behaviour in society.” The qualification ‘non-repetitive’ is important here for the definition recognize that few societies, if any, are wholly statie. The term ‘social change’ is also used to indicate the changes that take place in human interactions and inter-relations. Society is a ‘web-relationship’ and social change obviously means a change in the system of social relationship where a social relationship is understood n terms of social processes and social interactions and social organizations.

Thus, the term, ‘social change’ is used to indicate desirable variations in social institution, social processes and social organization. It includes alterations in the structure and the functions of the society. (more…)

PROSES PENGESAHAN PERJANJIAN INTERNASIONAL
MENJADI UNDANG-UNDANG DI INDONESIA
I. LATAR BELAKANG

Hubungan antara hukum nasional dan hukum internasional dalam sistem tata hukum merupakan hal yang sangat menarik baik dilihat dari sisi teori hukum atau ilmu hukum maupun dari sisi praktis. Kedudukan hukum internasional dalam tata hukum secara umum didasarkan atas anggapan bahwa hukum internasional sebagai suatu jenis atau bidang hukum merupakan bagian dari hukum pada umumnya. Anggapan ini didasarkan pada kenyataan bahwa hukum internasional sebagai suatu perangkat ketentuan dan asas yang efektif yang benar-benar hidup dalam kenyataan sehingga mempunyai hubungan yang efektif dengan ketentuan dan asas pada bidang hukum lainnya. Bidang hukum lainnya yang paling penting adalah bidang hukum nasional.

Hal ini dapat dilihat dari interaksi masyarakat internasional dimana peran negara sangat penting dan mendominasi hubungan internasional. Karena peran dari hukum nasional negara-negara dalam memberikan pengaruh dalam kancah hubungan internasional mengangkat pentingnya isu bagaimana hubungan antara hukum internasional dan hukum nasional dari sudut pandang praktis.

Dalam memahami berlakunya hukum internasional terdapat dua teori, yaitu teori voluntarisme,[1] yang mendasarkan berlakunya hukum internasional pada kemauan negara, dan teori objektivis[2] yang menganggap berlakunya hukum internasional lepas dari kemauan negara.[3]

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TAKING THE EXPERIENCE FROM PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION IN INDIA
A. Introduction


Such is the disillusionment with the state formal legal system that it is no longer demanded by law to do justice, if justice perchance is done, we congratulate ourselves for being fortune.In judicial circumstances one of the best things that have happened in the country of India recent years is the process reform through Public Interest Litigation or Social Action Litigation (PIL/SAL).

In essence, the PIL develops a new jurisprudence of the accountability of the state for constitutional and legal violations adversely affecting the interest of the weaker elements in the community. The following articles will discuss that whether this mechanism can be a good example to be implemented in other countries.
B. Necessity of Informal Justice
Necessity of informal justice stems from the nature of Anglo-Saxon law prescribing legal formalism and due to the failure of formal legal system to deliver justice that forced informal justice to take on a separate identity from state law.The British rule bequeathed to India as colonial legal heritage. The Anglo-Saxon model of adjudication insisted upon observance of procedural technicalities such as locus standi and adherence to adversarial system of litigation.The result was that the courts were accessible only to the rich and the influential people. The marginalized and disadvantaged groups continued to be exploited and denied basic human rights.

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UNDANG UNDANG RATIFIKASI PERJANJIAN INTERNASIONAL

A. Proses Pembentukan

Sesuai dengan Undang-undang No. 10 tahun 2004, tentang Pembentukan Peraturan Perundang-undangan, dalam Pasal 8 disebutkan bahwa materi muatan yang harus diatur dalam undang-undang berisi hal–hal yang mengatur lebih lanjut ketentuan UUD 1945 yang meliputi:

  1. hak-hak asasi manusia;
  2. hak dan kewajiban warga negara;
  3. pelaksanaan dan penegakan kedaulatan negara serta pembagian kekuasaan negara;
  4. wilayah negara dan pembagian daerah;
  5. kewarganegaraan dan kependudukan;
  6. Keuangan negara. [1]

Selanjutnya selain dari yang berkaitan dengan UUD 1945 adalah diperintahkan oleh suatu Undang-undang untuk diatur dengan Undang-undang. [2]Hal ini sama dengan ketentuan dalam Undang-undang No. 24 tahun 2000 mengenai hal apa saja dari perjanjian internasional yang disahkan dalam undang-undang. Beberapa hal yang sama adalah mengenai kedaulatan, hak asasi manusia, wilayah negara dan masalah keuangan negara.Hal lain adalah merupakan pejabaran lebih lanjut dan lebih spesifik dari muatan undang-undang secara umum. Sehingga tidak adanya suatu perbedaan antara undang-undang ratifikasi perjanjian internasional dan undang-undang pada umumnya dilihat dari sudut muatan materi undang-undang.

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