JohnnyCool said:
KaBImThe trouble for me is that I'm still as confused as ever about many points. Indonesia's laws, how they are enforced (or not), or when (and how), and publicised in a manner that is understandable (and transparent) to those affected by them, remain mysterious.
I understand your point and agree with you to a certain extend. IMHO, Indonesian law system makes sense even if sometimes it is a bit of an headache to have a whole picture and that you need to research an amazing number of text to get a complete idea of what can be or can not be done. Most of the times, the people that are supposed to know the law are not even aware of the various amendments that go with it !
However, to be fair, I think that in past 5 years Indonesian administration has done a huge effort to tackle the problem of the inability to find the law and you would be amazed to find out that many ministries have published online most of the laws that regulate their sector (though, amazingly many laws concerning directly the Departemen Hukum dan Ham itself still remain difficult to find :lol: )
About enforcement, I agree that it requires a great deal of patience and efforts to get it enforced the way it should, but I also have to say to be honest, that I personaly can not complain too much. I went through an amazing number of administrative stuff in Indonesia and almost never failed to get my rights respected. I would not deny that sometimes it was to the price of a lot of stress and headaches... but ultimately it worked. However, I have a rather good knowledge of the law, various experience in "corrupted field/countries" and fair commands of bahasa indonesia. I believe that if you don't have all of it, Indonesian administrative system is discouraging and troubling as you said.
JohnnyCool said:
That's all great, in theory, but what is or will be the reality? Who really knows and if anybody does, why don't they tell us plainly?
The reality is that most of the guys in the various tax offices of the country still ignore most of the procedure. The law still need to be completed and I guess that in the next few months (at least after the Pemilu 2009) a "Peraturan Menteri" and later on one or several "juklak" will come to further explain them the procedures. Untill then it would be a constant mess and a lot of conflicting informations...
You would be amazed to find out how some pejabat, even at a high ranking, are sometimes ignorant of laws regulating what is their everyday job. I do not count anymore the number of case (I could spontaneously write here a dozen of unbelievable stories) where I had to very politely point out the amendment that prevail over a particular law that they were supposed to enforce. This is one of numerous challenge of Indonesia: training reliable and knowledgeable civil servants who go for the job by vocation rather than because they paid the "entrance fee".
Unfortunately, I have a rather poor knowledge of the fiskal law itself, but it should soon change since I plan to do a research on it. Living in Indonesia and doing business here, I for sure want to know more about it and the potential consequence of any change in the law.
JohnnyCool said:
I wonder where all the receipts and tax returns for people like the deceased Suharto and his surviving family members and cohorts are? How come they seem to get away with nearly everything and Indonesian law-enforcers trying for accountability and redress get shafted on a regular basis?
I firmly believe in the KPK. This was a very good move and results so far are encouraging. A proof of it is to be found in the attempts by some to reduce their power of investigation. Of course, one may think that things don't go fast but to be honest, when you see the work that has to be done, one should be surprised by the results. No big cats such as Suharto crownies went down for long, but countless DPR, governors, businessmen, former ambassadors, etc are under investigation and will get jail terms.
