[Jakarta, 3 October 2013] From 8 to 10 October, HuMa (Association for Community and Ecological-Based Law Reform) will hold a High-Level Conference on People’s Law with the theme “People’s Law, Shaping Indonesia’s Future” at Wisma Soegondo, Cibubur, East Jakarta. The conference will be attended by hundreds of People’s Law Facilitators (PHR) from all corners of the country, from Aceh to Papua.

“Amidst the decline in the authority of the law and the state’s judiciary, this People’s Law Conference is driven to become the foundation of a legal reform movement that carries an alternative paradigm that places the people as the foremost and most important actors,” said Asep Yunan Firdaus, Chairman of the People’s Law Conference Committee.

Last night (2 October 2013), the news of the arrest of the Chief Justice by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) marked the lowest point of the state’s judicial system, where even the heart of the guardian of the Indonesian constitution (Constitutional Court) is not immune to corrupt behavior. The event was like a sledgehammer shattering the hopes of those seeking justice.

Nevertheless, throughout its existence, the Constitutional Court has indeed been used as a platform for seeking justice by elite groups, especially political parties/politicians. According to HuMa’s research until the end of 2012, 48.5% of those seeking justice in the Constitutional Court were politicians, 42.8% were legally literate individuals, and only 6.5% were ordinary citizens.

“This is evidence of the ongoing legal stagnation in this country, where law enforcement is rife with corruption and gives rise to legal mafias; the judiciary does not materialize as an agent and vanguard of legal reform; and politics and the direction of legal reform are elitist,” emphasized Chalid Muhammad, Chairman of the HuMa Board of Trustees.

HuMa believes that if people’s law is firmly established as an integrative part of the national legal system, then Indonesia’s legal order will not stagnate as mentioned above. HuMa has currently trained over 1,000 individuals throughout Indonesia to become agents of legal reform alongside the people. PHRs have been equipped with the ability to facilitate people’s law and advocate cases working with indigenous/local communities.

Moreover, conflicts over natural resources and agrarian issues continue to escalate. According to HuMa’s research, in 2012, there were 232 conflicts over natural resources and agrarian issues, occurring in 98 cities/districts in 22 provinces. The total conflict area reached 2,043,287 hectares. Not less than 91,968 individuals from 315 communities were victims of these natural resource and agrarian conflicts.

The plantation sector experienced the highest number of conflicts, followed by forestry and mining. Plantation conflicts occurred in 119 cases covering an area of 415,000 hectares, while forestry conflicts occurred in 72 cases covering nearly 1.3 million hectares across 17 provinces, and mining conflicts in 17 cases covering 30,000 hectares.

“There have been many successes achieved by the PHRs. They have worked to push for the implementation of various government policies to strengthen land tenure rights, economic resilience, and community participation dependent on natural resources. For example, in West Sumatra, they have successfully pushed for regulations on the restoration of customary rights in Pasaman Barat District and West Sumatra Province. In West Java, PHRs have advocated for the Baduy Regional Regulation and a decree to manage the area, which are the results of their hard work,” explained Andiko, Executive Director of HuMa.

“A great hope arises from the implementation of this conference, which is to ensure that legal reform efforts do not remain an agenda exclusive to the elite that are far from the reach of the general population, besides consolidating PHRs from all over Indonesia to strengthen and accelerate the legal reform movement in Indonesia,” further elaborated Chalid Muhammad.***