Misunderstanding Indonesian law: Schapelle Corby, Bali 9, Bali bombers
Media Release, Monday 16 May 2005
Indonesian law expert Tim Lindsey will address some of the furphies, mistakes, misunderstandings and confusion about Indonesia’s criminal justice system in a free public lecture tomorrow (Tuesday May 17).
Professor Tim Lindsey is Professor of Asian Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne. He is also Director of the Asian Law Centre and Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam.
The free public lecture will explain the basic features of the Indonesian legal system and will draw on examples from the Bali drugs cases and the Jemaah Islamiyah trials to identify its strengths and weaknesses.
Professor Tim Lindsey said the media frenzy surrounding the drugs trials of Schapelle Corby and the Bali 9 had created widespread confusion about the Indonesian criminal justice system, with most reports suggesting it is biased and primitive.
“Most of these reports are based, however, on serious mistakes. For example, despite persistent claims that Indonesian law presumes guilt, the fact is that it certainly does not. Indonesian legislation clearly places the burden of proof on the prosecution and provides for a presumption of innocence similar to that which applies in Australia,” he said.
“Another widespread furphy is the assumption that because Indonesia does not have juries, its trial process is inherently unfair. The fact is that the absence of juries is a feature of the European-derived Civil Law tradition, the legal tradition followed by most countries in the world today. Indonesia inherited this tradition from France via the Dutch, who colonised Indonesia. Law without juries works well in most countries in the world.”
Professor Lindsey said although the Indonesian legal system provided the sorts of rights and protections for the accused that might be expected in Australian courts, they were not always upheld in the same way in practice.
“There may be room for criticism of the Bali drugs trials but we should not condemn the Indonesian system on false grounds or simply because it is different to our own.”
WHAT: Misunderstanding Indonesian Law? The Trials of the Bali Bombers, Schapelle Corby and the Bali 9: Professor Tim Lindsey
WHEN: Tuesday 17 May from 1.10pm – 2.00pm
WHERE: Lecture Theatre GM15, Law School
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