Rethinking Legal Status of Polytechnic in the Law of Education System

<p><span>The legal status of polytechnic has been fundamentally changed from time to time. After the Law of National Education System Number 20/2003 and the Law of Higher Education Number 12/2012 came into effect, the polytechnic has been granted a new legal status that offers more diverse programs at various levels. Since then, polytechnic could conduct vocational diploma programs and degree programs in applied sciences from graduate to postgraduate. This legal status raises legal problems whether polytechnic is a higher education institution in vocational or applied sciences. Best education practices in some countries classify applied sciences higher education as academic education, not vocational education. This doctrinal research paper then will examine this legal problem using statute, historical and comparative approach, in the light of the Development Legal Theory. This study shows that the legal status of polytechnic is heavily dependent on government policy. In the absence of a clear and firm ground policy of vocational education, the legal status of the polytechnic has been interpreted differently from time to time. The government ought to reset the vocational education policy and then reform the law of the national education system. Therefore, the legal status of the polytechnic will be more sustainable and have better legal certainty accordingly. Regarding the recent development of higher education, it will be better if the government constitutes polytechnic as a higher education institution in applied sciences.</span></p>

Strengthening the Law on the Construction of High-rise Building That is Beneficial to Support National Development

<p><span lang="EN-US">The number of high-rise buildings in the big cities of Indonesia is increasing along with land being more limited and its prices being very high. Most of these high-rise buildings are in Jakarta and some of them are facing the risk of building failure that may cause business and operation interruption. These buildings that have been erected and operating need to receive regular maintenance and supervision to ensure the building's condition and safety. Many building owners and managers do not conduct and plan maintenance and supervision properly causing these buildings of being at risk of fire and building structure – mechanical failure / damage. For this reason, rigorous regulations, and its enforcement in building construction and maintenance are needed to ensure that these buildings operate reliably and encourage building owners and facility manager to comply with them properly. Cultivated Penalty and strict sanctions need to be renewed and must be implemented properly by Government bodies and local authority. Building Audit Institute can be formed to assist the central government and local governments (Governor) in carrying out their functions to ensure the safety and security of buildings, including their users. Strengthening existing laws and regulations will greatly assist in law enforcement and certainty for owners, building managers and building users, which in turn will support national development.</span></p>

The Plea Bargaining System as a Criminalization Model Under the Law Number 19 Year of 2016 on Electronic Information and Transaction Act and the Dignified Justice

<p>From the perspective of economic analysis of law theory, the increasing number of criminal convictions would indicate that the Indonesian criminal Code and regulations have not been effective in reducing the rate of crimes. By combining a preliminary hearing, hearing of cases through a special route and the application of the principle of bargaining for sentence in the plea bargaining system, a new mechanism may be formulated in the Indonesia criminal justice proceedings. This criminal justice approach employs the dignified justice principle (<em>teori keadilan bermartabat</em>) approach, whereby, the trial of cases using a preliminary hearing as a special route under a sole judge that is intended for an accused who pleads guilty and bargains for a sentence. Accordingly, this research attempts to explore the use of the principles of the plea bargaining system as a criminal justice model under the Law Number 19 year of 2016 on the Electronic Information and Transaction Act (“EIT Act”). Equally important, this research employs the juridical-normative method, statute, case, and conceptual approaches in order to obtain a comprehensive result. </p>

Notary Malpractice in Carrying Out Their Duties and Authorities

<p>As an official whose duty and authority is making authentic deeds, a Notary is responsible for all the content of the deed he/ she made and all the information relating to the deed made before/ by him/ her, based on the Official Oath of the Notary and Notary Law. Notary is a noble position (<em>noblese obligue</em>), and Notaries are expected to keep their dignity as official. The consequences of such honorable position and authority of Notary is that Notaries are obliged to do everything that is regulated in the Notary Law and obey everything that is prohibited by the law, regulations, and the Notary’s Code of Ethics, in carrying out both their duties and authority, Notaries are responsible for any consequences arises from any violation of the position of a Notary. For any malpractice committed by a Notary, a Notary may be held liable to civil and criminal lawsuits. This article explains about: (1) The law and regulations applied to Notary in Indonesia in carrying out their duties and authorities. (2) How does the Notary practice in Indonesia in carrying out their duties and authorities. (3) How the ideal Law and Regulations should be applied to Notary, so that Notary malpractice can be eliminated, or at least reduced, and Notaries can carry out their duties and authorities as they are mandated. </p>

Prescription Drugs Price Setting and Generic Drugs Prescription concerning Consumer Protection Law in Indonesia

<p>Health is one of the most important human rights in human life. Access to affordable prescription drugs is still a problem for people with out-of-pocket expenses. Generic prescription drugs that are much cheaper than non-generic drugs are still low, especially in non-government healthcare facilities. This research aims to provide suggestions of regulation on price control of prescription drugs and generic prescription drugs that will assure certainty and affordability for the public. The methodology is doctrinal legal research and is supported by empirical studies. The research finding consist of two things, namely the price of prescription drugs and the prescription of generic drugs. The first finding is that Highest Retail Price (HET) set by the manufacturer is potentially to be unlimited because there is no limit control. Currently, there are many drugs sold over HET with minimal supervision from the Government. The absence of law is found as the existing regulations are only for those listed in the National Formulary, while the rest have not been regulated. Therefore, the suggestion is to set ceiling prices for prescription drugs with comparison among generic drugs, branded generic drugs, and the originator; also create a refund mechanism for prices above HET to assure the consumers’ rights to get compensation under the Consumer Protection Law. The second finding is that only a few doctors prescribe generic drugs. Additionally, patients have not been involved in the treatment decisions.Therefore, the suggestion is to associate "the action of prescribing generic drugs" with the extension of doctor's license, namelythe Registration Certificate (STR); so that doctors will prescribe generic drugs without the need for close supervision due to their interests. With the increase of generic drugs’ prescription, the financing of health services, nationwide as well asindividually, can become more affordable.</p>

Securing Agricultural Land Investment Contract: Resolving Salient Agricultural Land Dispute in Indonesia

<p>In 2014, Indonesia introduced a more progressive law to ease foreign investment in plantations. This policy seems to resuscitate the legacy of the plantation during colonial times as a source of state revenue. This law however has not signified the increases in plantation companies. One of the major causes has been an inadequate quality of contracts such as lack of transparency, participation, and coherence. In practice, the plantation contract still utilizes the outdated uniform contract based on the 18^th century Civil Code adopted from the Dutch Civil Code. These have challenged certainty and enforceability. In line with the liberation of plantations in developing nations, the International Institute for Unification of Private law (UNIDORIT) is drafting the universal guideline for a responsible agricultural land investment contract. The guideline aims at providing the model of a responsible agricultural land investment contract. The model contract considers a broad range of social, political, economic, and cultural aspects to ensure that stakeholders' interests are respected while it also needs to adhere to global issues, such as food security, poverty elevation, and environmental preservation. The article is part of a study attempting to explore the deficiencies of the existing plantation contract and to seek the potential adoption of the UNIDROIT guideline in Indonesia. There are multi-facet challenges to adopt the UNIDROIT guideline as the stakeholders and legal counsel capacity are still limited. Those result in complexity during the agricultural land dispute settlement process in which non-legal factors contribute to its success. This article explores to map the potential issues and to propose a model of more effective agricultural land dispute settlement.</p>

Harmonization of Laws on Electronic Contracts Based on International Instruments for the ASEAN Economic Community

<p>Technological advancement has created new business practices such as utilizing electronic contracts. Utilization of electronic contracts, especially in international transactions, has pushed countries around the world to impose new regulations defining the legalities of electronic instruments. Challenges arise considering the global and borderless nature of electronic transactions faced with regulations of different countries that are not in sync with each other. This is especially apparent in Member States of the ASEAN Economic Community. This paper attempts to discover the ideal legal framework for electronic contracts in the ASEAN Economic Community. Based on the research and analysis, it has been found that there is a need for a harmonized legal framework regarding electronic commerce that can be adopted unaltered by Member States of the ASEAN Economic Community, which could be drafted by the ASEAN as an inter-governmental organization.</p>

The Legal Policy of Regulating the Concept of Future Value Amid the Discourse on State Finances in State-Owned Enterprises

<p>The status of state finance is related to the legal consequences which occur and must be borne by the parties. The legal position of state finances will also determine any loss of the state finances which occur as a result of a business decision made by SOE. Business decision made by the Board of Directors of a company has significant impacts on the performance of a Limited Liability Company (LLC) such as revenue and increased value of the company. In order to generate profit, the Board of Directors must be able to take appropriate corporate action. The Board of Directors of LLC often takes future value action by performing risky action which may damage the company in expectation of the highest possible profit for the company in the future. In the context of SOE management is often viewed as detrimental to state finances because it’s considered corporate crime which ends with corruption. Problems occur when performing assessment of state loss as SOE and Law Enforcers have different perspectives. Law Enforcers often can’t see the future value of a corporate action taken by an SOE Persero. The problem in this paper is what is the Legal Policy of Regulating the Concept of Future Value in Determining State Financial Loss? The research method was judicial normative, which is a study that emphasizes the usage of written legal norms which are related to the source’s perception and view. The research result showed that policy related with future value transaction performed by the Board of Directors of SOE (LLC) incorporate action for the future interest of the company should be viewed as an action by the Board of Directors of SOE to realize the vision and mission of SOE, not as state financial loss if the value of the business loss is smaller than the profit generated by SOE and doesn’t affect state capital (state assets) which is deposited to SOE.</p>

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Efficiency Approach with the Establishment of a State Institution Managing Funding and CSR Programs

<p>CSR is an activity that provides broader benefits in various social aspects such as education, health, community empowerment or environmental preservation. CSR actions applied as a strategy will only cause irregularities in the use of funds owned by the company which can trigger to damage to the company's financial performance. This is thought to be due to the fact that there are quite a lot of funds budgeted with the CSR implementation which is not supervised, which causes inefficiency. This study aims to determine and analyze the provisions of the laws and regulations that govern CSR related to the obligations of Limited Liability Companies in the Indonesian legal system and to find out and analyze the implementation of company obligations to implement CSR in Indonesia and find solutions to corporate liability arrangements such as Limited Liability Companies (PT), Enterprises. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) and other businesses carry out CSR to be useful in accordance with that CSR. The approach used is the Legislative Law approach and the case approach. From the research results it is known that 1). CSR regulations concerning the obligation of PT to implement it in the Indonesian legal framework are regulated in several laws but there are 2 (two) laws that specifically regulate CSR but the two laws are inconsistent with regard to sanctions if these obligations are violated, 2) Implementation of PT obligations implementing CSR in Indonesia is a program carried out by the company that is not in accordance with the community needs, is carried out individually, is moving and it’s not sustainable, there is no provision that regulates the amount of funds and there is no supervision from the local government in managing CSR. The occurrence of overlapping laws and regulations so that the implementation of the CSR program does not match the policies issued by the local government. CSR funds are misused and even corrupted by local officials and there is no evaluation by the company because it is more concerned with profit in carrying out CSR. 3). Regulating company obligations such as Limited Liability Companies (PT), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and other businesses implementing CSR so that it is useful, it is necessary to establish a state institution that manages CSR and accommodates the companies’, government’s and society interests so that the CSR program can run efficiently, precisely targeted and continuously.</p><p> </p>

Strengthening Legal Certainty on the Electronic Registration System of Fiduciary Deed in Indonesia

<p>Fiduciary guarantee constitute a type of guarantee commonly used by the business society to obtain loan from Banks or other financial institutions. Administratively, since the government established an electronic fiduciary registration system, the system has in fact, not been fully supported by appropriate legal grounds. This research aims to explore and analyze regulations regarding the legal status of fiduciary agreements along with its electronic registration system and the role of Notary Public with the aim of providing recommendation to the ideal registration system supported by proper laws and regulations. Methodology of this study is based on normative legal research which carried out several approaches such as statutory approach, comparative approach and conseptual approach. The results of the study essentially emphazied the need for amandement and harmonization of Law No. 45/1999 concerning Fiduciary Guarantee as well as its implementing regulations. Ultimately, the Indonesia fiduciary guarantee and its registration system will always in harmony with the values of legal certainty, justice and usefulness.</p>