Vol 2 No. 2 July - December 2003 - Faculty of Law - National ...

an eye-opening visit tojakartaStudents from our “Introduction to Indonesian Law” course went on afield trip to Jakarta from 23 to 26 February. Assoc Prof Gary F Bell ofour Faculty and Prof Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesiaorganised the visit, which gave our students a unique opportunity to seefirst-hand the institutions involved in law and law reform in Indonesia,and to get a feel of the situation on the ground.Our students at dinnerwith their IndonesiancounterpartsFirst stop was the Centre for Electoral Reform (CETRO), a non-governmentalorganisation, which headed a successful campaign to amend the IndonesianConstitution, so that the President of Indonesia would be elected directlyby the people. We also visited the International Institute for Democracyand Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an international organisation whichsustains and supports democratisation processes around the world.FutureAlumni28We then paid a visit to Indonesian firm Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners(HHP), the correspondent law firm of Baker & McKenzie in Indonesia.The meeting was hosted by Mr. Timothy A. Manring, whom some willremember from his teaching days at the Faculty (when we were at theBukit Timah campus). Mr. Manring briefed the students, and led adiscussion on the practice of law in Indonesia. The students also hadthe opportunity to mingle with the firm’s other lawyers at a tea kindlyarranged by the firm.Kelvin Ma ’03at the HumanRights Courtin Central JakartaAlso on the itinerary was the District Court and Human Rights Court ofCentral Jakarta, where the students sat in on the human rights trial ofa military commander who stood accused of human rights violations inEast Timor. After observing the proceedings, Kelvin Ma ’03 remarked,“Although the entire session was in Bahasa Indonesia, it was interestingto observe that the judge, typical of a civil law system, played a ratherinvolved role in the trial process. At certain points, the lawyer wouldsimply sit at his desk while the judge addressed the witness and conductedhis own line of questioning.”Our hosts then took us to their school, the Fakultas Hukum, UniversitasIndonesia (UI) where the NUS students shared a meal with UI studentsat the student canteen. We were then given a tour of the faculty and thelibrary. The last official visit was to Hukumonline.com -- a young andupcoming enterprise which provides legal documents and information online.Our thanks go to Prof Hikmahanto and his students, who organised theprogramme. Our students had a great time with their Indonesian hostsand were extremely impressed with the enthusiasm of young lawyers andlaw students in Indonesia. All too often, what is commented upon fromthe outside are the perceived flaws of the Indonesian legal system, butit is from the inside that one can see the hopes and aspirations of a newgeneration of bright and enthusiastic young lawyers. Students havedescribed their trip as “an eye-opener”, “full of surprise”. As one studentput it, “Jakarta has contradicted all my preconceptions”.