Opportunity to Fix the Job Creation Law
The issues of employment, forestry, environment and land affairs in the Job Creation Law are still in the public spotlight. Revising this omnibus law is expected to offer an occasion for making substantial improvements.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The ruling of the Constitutional Court regarding the Job Creation Law should be seen as a second chance to carry out structural reform towards an economy that is more inclusive and sustainable.
Law No. 11/2020 concerning Job Creation and Law No. 12/2011 concerning the Formulation of Legislation (PPP) are currently included on the 2022 Priority National Legislation Program.
Before improving the Job Creation Law, the government and the House of Representatives must first revise the PPP Law. This step follows the decision of the Constitutional Court on 25 Nov. 2021, which states that the Job Creation Law is flawed in its formulation and conditionally unconstitutional. It also gave lawmakers two years to revise the Job Creation Law. If there is no improvement within two years, the law will be permanently declared unconstitutional.
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At the virtual Kompas Collaboration Forum which was held on Friday (4/2/2022) by the Kompas daily and attended by the CEOs of a number of companies grouped in the Kompas Collaboration Forum, Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said that after the PPP Law revision was enacted, the Job Creation Law would be revised by referring to the procedures for the formulation of new laws and regulations.
"We believe the revision can be completed earlier than the deadline, which is before the peak of the G20 Summit [in November 2022]," said Airlangga.
The government currently is preparing an academic draft of the revised Job Creation Law. Regarding the direction of this law revision, Airlangga explained, the four issues of manpower, forestry, environment and land (agrarian) affairs were being studied in collaboration with several universities.
"Those are the four [issues] most highlighted by the public," he said.
It depends on the discussion, whether there will be a change in the substance or not.
On the other hand, Airlangga said, there were also aspirations from business actors, especially foreign investors, demanding that the substance of the Job Creation Law remain unchanged.
House Legislative Body (Baleg) chairman Supratman Andi Agtas said that the PPP Law revision would be completed as soon as possible. The revisions to the PPP Law were limited to only a few matters, including the definitions, theories and explanations regarding the mechanism and method for formulating omnibus laws.
The PPP Law revision would also include meaningful participation as highlighted in the Constitutional Court’s ruling. Meaningful participation must cover three conditions, namely the public has the right to be heard, have their opinions taken into account and to be given an explanation as to the extent their opinions would be accommodated by legislators.
Regarding the direction of the Job Creation Law revision, Baleg deputy chairman Ahmad Baidowi added that the scope of the changes to the substance of the Job Creation Law would depend on the results of later discussions between the House and the government. "It depends on the discussion, whether there will be a change in the substance or not," he said.
Substantial improvements
Economics head Yose Rizal Damuri at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that the Constitutional Court's ruling could be used as an opportunity to fix structural economic reform. Substantial improvements are needed to adjust the steps in Indonesia's economic transformation to be more in line with the principles of developing an economy that was inclusive, sustainable and had a global perspective.
A number of items in the Job Creation Law were still problematic because they were seen to have a negative impact on environmental sustainability and public welfare. The government needed to identify various elements of the public and independent institutions to solicit their opinions and map out the direction of the law revision.
Law professor Maria S.W. Sumardjono from Gadjah Mada University said the process of improving the substance of the Job Creation Law could not be done in secret.
Lawmakers were obliged to give the public the right to “safeguard” the re-deliberation of this law. It was not just a formality, but must genuinely respect public participation. "This is a big job that must be guarded. It [the law] can't simply be changed," said Maria.
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For example, revisions must be made to improve a number of substantial items related to the agrarian, forestry and environment sectors that did not meet public aspirations. The Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Ministry needed to correct the substance regarding land in the Job Creation Law that violated the concepts and principles of Law No. 5/1960 concerning Agrarian Principles, which was still in force.
The Job Creation Law must also guarantee human rights, such as recognizing customary laws through regional decrees.
Bayu Dwi Anggono, the dean of the University of Jember law school pointed out that, although the Constitutional Court ruling was not clear about revising the substance of the Job Creation Law, the Court emphasized in its decision the importance of meaningful participation in deliberating the Job Creation Law.
This means that the law must be redrafted from the beginning, from the drafting stage to accommodating public aspirations, and to the deliberation at the House with the government. All stages must meet the requirement of meaningful participation.
"If you really implement meaningful participation, there will definitely be input from the public that must be heard and taken into account, so that would also change the substance of the Job Creation Law," said Bayu. (AGE/REK/MTK/DIM)
This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo.