Legal-Cultural Reflections on the Outbreak

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Petugas gabungan dari Bintara Pembina Desa (Babinsa), Bhayangkara Pembina Keamanan dan Ketertiban Masyarakat (Bhabinkamtibmas) serta aparat kelurahan memasang spanduk himbauan untuk tidak mudik di sudut Jalan Gelora, Kelurahan Gelora, Kecamatan Tanah Abang, Jakarta Pusat, Kamis (23/4/2020).

The spread of COVID-19 has strengthened the call for scientists to collaborate in an interdisciplinary manner to attain the most comprehensive and appropriate solution.

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact and changed global life, signifying that the compartmentalization of the field of science is outdated. Community needs become the main driver of the emergence of interdisciplinary science.

Unfortunately, the abundance of information related to Covid-19 does not take into account the voices of social-humanities. In fact, the impact of the outbreak on humanity and society implies a matter social justice. When experiencing social uncertainty due to partial or total termination of income, who is the group whose access is most vulnerable to the right to health and survival? Can policy makers identify those who should be prioritized to get help? How can collaboration among sciences help?

New culture

The Covid-19 outbreak will change the world in terms of ways of thinking and knowledge, how to live, and how to judge or determine what is allowed and not. That is the essence of culture. Everyone (has the potential) to be affected by Covid-19 so that the outbreak is no longer a problem of individuals, but rather the community, the society, even the nation. Each person produces and distributes anxiety, fear, worry, and uncertainty, so collective knowledge and experience are formed.

Covid-19 has united meaningful ideas and collective cooperation, and is likely to give birth to a new culture related to a healthy way of life.

Furthermore, many initiatives will emerge, and the collective solidarity of the community and networks in the society, which aim at seeking joint protection in various forms of donations and cooperation. Covid-19 has united meaningful ideas and collective cooperation, and is likely to give birth to a new culture related to a healthy way of life. The society has the capacity for that, regardless of the presence or absence of the state.

The way to get knowledge is part of the essence of culture. Post-Covid-19 which provides great learning is predicted to give birth to a new branch of interdisciplinary science, which is increasingly intensive.

Classic health and engineering sciences nowadays have given rise to new branches of science, such as life sciences, bio-molecular science, biomedical science, bioinformatics with its various branches; and will produce drugs, vaccines, and detection and healing devices. Meanwhile, the mathematical-statistical sciences with their application sciences, such as computer science, give birth to new sciences, such as data science, and produce various artificial intelligence products that have the potential to replace or support professions in many fields, including medicine. Later the development of interdisciplinary sciences will become wider and produce new material culture, including the digital, which is astounding. Even though globalization may be redefined because it is suspected that the spread of Covid-19 is due to the massive mobility and connectivity of people and goods, globalization with new characters on the basis of digital connectivity will not go backward.

Also read: Post-Covid-19 Indonesia

Legal aspect

Humans who gather in the collectives always need legal norms about what can and may not be done for the sake of survival together (Ubi societas ibi ius). Law is a part or process of culture. The society has the capacity to create its own legal and justice norms (self-regulation). The substance of the new law is a hybrid, a combination between the national laws, customary law, religions and customs, even international laws.

The influence of international laws at the grassroots, especially in the field of human rights, is very strong in the current era of globalization of laws. Laws from all directions go in all directions so that the world community also has the same legal instruments. Especially the results of the ratification or adoption of some international laws, particularly in the field of human rights and governance.

Kompas

Grand Central Terminal stands mostly empty as much of the city is void of cars and pedestrians over fears of spreading the coronavirus on March 22, 2020 in New York City. Across the country schools, businesses and places of work have either been shut down or are restricting hours of operation as health officials try to slow the spread of COVID-19. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

The birth of new laws is likely to be facilitated by world bodies, as the world has been united by a legal development program in several waves. America began designing the law and development movement in the 1960s, aimed at democratizing newly independent states in Asia, Africa, Latin America; modernizing the legal system and alleviating the poor. After the cold war ended, European countries designed the construction of a new law named the rule of law movement (1990s). The target is developing countries plus fractional states of the Soviet Union.

They do not involve broad public participation that has its own local laws and justice concepts.

The two legal development programs are not entirely successful because they were designed by legal elites and donors, not based on knowledge of the legal system and character of developing countries. They do not involve broad public participation that has its own local laws and justice concepts. The lesson from the failure of the two waves of legal development is that development in all fields, such as health, economics, education, politics, must be accompanied by legal development.

A survey of Commission on Legal Empowerment Survey (2008, 2009) surprised the legal community. Four billion people around the world live in poverty, not because of economic problems alone, but because they have been thrown out of access to justice. There is no good law, there is no access to legal literacy, legal identity, legal assistance, and of course when the outbreak is access to health services. The last decade\'s development movement is Access to Justice, which is specifically aimed at vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, such as the poor, women, minorities (adherents of local beliefs, indigenous peoples), and the disabled. Countries with large socio-economic disparities such as ours cannot yet implement justice for all, but affirmative justice for underserved communities.

The policy must be right

Successful access to justice requires the ability of policy makers to identify who are the most vulnerable and underserved groups. So far the approach is too administrative, eligibility is attached to the citizen identification card (KTP). In fact, even the poorest groups, minorities, do not have access to legal identity, especially KTPs. They are urban poor, dwellers along river banks, urban migrant workers or casual daily laborers, and people without domicile; the undocumented. They have no voice, and are constructed as other, or non-existent, identities. They miss from a variety of policy formulations, are legally blind, without access to legal assistance, and in times of the outbreak will be thrown out of priority health services.

Kompas/Priyombodo

Residents bring their KTP documents and family cards when they will receive a prosperous family card (KKS) at the Kreo Kelurahan office, Larangan, Tangerang City, Banten, Monday (11/05/2020).

Our country does not have a policy scheme that forces the rich to subsidize the poor, through a social security system. The health securities scheme is only given to holders of legal identity, and Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS) payers, or those who can afford to pay for themselves. There is no system that forces the rich to subsidize the poor, the healthy or normal people to subsidize the sick or disabled, childless families subsidize poor families with children, or luxury home owners subsidize people without home. Social security systems like these are the ones owned by developed countries so that they can implement justice for all, have passed the priority stage of justice for the poor.

Here BPJS can be accessed by anyone who has administrative eligibility. The premium paid by the rich and the poor is slightly different. Rich people who are able to seek treatment abroad are seen to be taking part in using expensive health services (for serious illness), which is more appropriate for the poor. Many government social assistance programs during the outbreak miss the targets, are aimed at those with KTPs or known by the village authorities. Meanwhile the most vulnerable are hidden as others, non-existent, not counted. They are also not recorded as victims of Covid-19 due to lack of access to mass tests.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Sulistyowati Irianto

Social humanities scientists, and statisticians, should be able to find solutions, how to determine the most vulnerable groups. Economists can count losses from policy mistakes due to an inability to identify the most vulnerable. We also look forward to world bodies and the scientific community to create a joint platform to tackle the global epidemic. Readiness must be made even though the new outbreak will come again five or twenty years later, as said by former US President Barack Obama.

Sulistyowati Irianto, Professor of Legal Anthropology, School of Law, University of Indonesia