49 Draft Bills to be Listed under 2017 National Legislative Program

Indonesian Version

 
Marcell Sihombing, Rofiq Hidayat
 

 

In spite of the fact that many of the draft bills listed under the 2016 National Legislative Program (Prolegnas) have not yet been passed into law, the Legislation Board (Baleg) at the House of Representatives (House) has already approved some 49 draft bills for incorporation into the 2017 National Legislative Program (Prolegnas). This new list is to be finalized at a Baleg plenary meeting before being forwarded to the House for final approval.
 
Baleg Deputy, Firman Subagyo, recently stated that Baleg had approved the 49 draft bills during a meeting which was attended by representatives of both the National Law Development Agency (Badan Pembinaan Hukum Nasional - BPHN) and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
 
Mr. Subagyo further elaborated that 40 of the above-mentioned 49 draft bills were draft bills which had failed to be passed into law during the 2016 Prolegnas period. Meanwhile, the remaining nine draft bills comprise of five new draft bills which have been proposed by the House, three new draft bills which have been proposed by the government, and one new draft bill which has been proposed by the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
 
Mr. Subagyo went on to explain that in order to ensure the completion and passage into law of said draft bills, Baleg had already asked a number of special committees (panitia khusus - Pansus), working committees (Panja), as well as relevant House Commissions to commit themselves to the immediate completion and passage of the draft bills in question.
 
“We are demanding the completion and passage of the above draft bills, so that they do not simply just reappear on the Prolegnas list [every single year] without any progress being made,” Mr. Subagyo asserted.
 
Mr. Subagyo also revealed that any draft bill which will not be passed into law within the prescribed timeframe would be removed from the 2017 Prolegnas list. This should ensure a prioritization of the passing of other draft bills and a better opportunity to accommodate the public interest. Nevertheless, the chances of any such replacements ultimately being made are slim in light of the fact that all of the 49 draft bills which are listed under the 2017 Prolegnas are supported by the relevant proposed draft-bill papers and their corresponding academic papers.
 
“The problem now is why the various Panja and Pansus have failed to complete the deliberation process. That is our [Baleg’s] concern,” Mr. Subagyo asserted.
 
On a slightly different note, Arif Wibowo, also a Baleg Deputy, has declared that the total number of draft bills listed under the Prolegnas has created an image of the House as some sort of “law-producing factory”. However, the process of drafting laws is also supposed to involve the both government and the DPD, which should act in accordance with the various provisions which are set out under Article 18 of Law No. 12 of 2011 on the Establishment of Laws and Regulations.
 
“The establishment of laws and regulations is usually based on the prevailing laws, on an evaluation of the public interest or on a legally binding decision made by the Constitutional Court. The benchmark should not be the amount [of laws and regulations] itself. Even though the number of laws passed may be low, if a given law does not accommodate the public interest, then why should we [Baleg] pass it [into law]?” Mr. Wibowo concluded.
 
The complete list of draft bills which is to be further discussed at a Baleg plenary meeting before finally being incorporated into the 2017 Prolegnas is as follows: