Member of the House Legislation Committee Heri Gunawan. Photo: Mentari/nvl

Revision of Law Number 12 of 2011 on Lawmaking (UU PPP) is believed to offer a solution to the excessive and redundant legislation in Indonesia, currently totalling 42,996 laws and regulations. Of all these over 42,000 legislation, 8,414 are national laws, 14,453 ministerial regulations, 4,164 non-ministerial agency regulations, and 15,965 local regulations.

The House Legislation Committee (Baleg) has reportedly approved the revision some time ago. In a press release to Parlementaria, Member of the Legislation Committee, Heri Gunawan, on Friday (22/4/2022), said that one of the ways that Baleg has resorted to in dealing with the excessive and redundant legislation is to use the omnibus law method. Baleg is also planning on using the same method for the Bill on Reform of the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (RUU RPPSK).

"However, the omnibus law method does not yet have a legal basis. With reference to the Constitutional Court Decision Number 91/PUU-XVIII/2020, the omnibus law method is declared to have no legal basis. Therefore, it is necessary to revise the UU PPP to accommodate the omnibus law method," explained Gunawan. In addition, revision of the PPP Law also needs to accommodate revisions after a law is passed by either the House or the Government, calling for stronger public participation in this regard.

The Commission Head of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party in Baleg went on to explain that, as a follow-up to the Constitutional Court's decision, Baleg took the initiative to propose the Second Amendment Bill to Law No. 12/2011 on Lawmaking in the 2022 Priority Legislation Program. The Lawmaking Bill was then ratified as a House-initiated bill in the Plenary Meeting last Tuesday (8/2/2022). "The House's initiative was welcomed by the Government, and a formal letter has been sent to the President along with an Inventory of Problems (DIM), so the 1^st reading can be carried out as soon as possible," he added.

In addition to the omnibus law method, several important issues in the Lawmaking Bill, according to the Deputy Chair of the Gerindra Party Faction, include promotion of public involvement and participation (Article 96), correction of textual errors by the House (Article 72), and correction of textual errors by the Government (Article 73), as well as establishment of electronic-based laws and regulations (Article 97B).

"Moreover, we also agreed on improving the elucidation of the principle of openness in the elucidation of Article 5 (g), which is to support further strengthen public participation to obtain information and provide input in the formation of laws and regulations, starting from planning, drafting, deliberating, ratifying or passing, and enacting, including monitoring and reviewing," he clarified.

The West Java IV electoral district legislator added that a number of remarks were passed during the decision-making stage of the 1^st reading. The first one is regarding the Constitutional Court's decision that orders the establishment of a legal basis for the omnibus law method, requiring more detailed arrangements on the mechanism and restrictions on its use. The second point is related to the stipulation of public participation, in accordance with the mandate of the Constitutional Court's decision.

The final point raised in the discussion was the formulation of electronic-based laws and regulations, which is considered a progress in the lawmaking mechanism. However, Gunawan believes it should only be done as a last resort and in an emergency. The reason for this is that the increasingly sophisticated technological systems is susceptible to infiltration by irresponsible people. (mh/ah/agl)