On 6-9 November 2015, our Principals, Mr Tony Budidjaja and Ms Juni Dani have attend Lawasia 28th Conference in Sydney, Australia. The theme of this conference is Cross-Border Law and Practice in The Asia Pacific Region encompasses discussion of developments in black letter law and of issues that arise in the intersects between the law, the legal profession and the wider community.
Both Tony Budidjaja and Juni Dani were speakers at this conference. Tony Budidjaja presented about The Internationalization of Legal Practice in Indonesia. In his presentation he discussed about how the increase in cross-border works poses several challenges to legal profession, court, regulator in Indonesia. He explain that there are still no clear rules for the regulation of foreign lawyers and foreign law practice in Indonesia. The only law in Indonesia that deals with foreign law practice is Article 23 of Advocate Act of 2003.
He also explain that The Advocates Law does not address issues of interest to foreign lawyers, such as cooperation between Indonesian law firms and foreign law firms or the hiring of local lawyers by foreign firms and It is also not clear which body has the legitimate right to regulate the establishment of foreign lawyers.
As conclution He said, there is an increasing domination of foreign-based law firms in Indonesia’s legal services market so the time has come for Indonesian lawyers to compete or cooperate with lawyers from other countries.
Meanwhile, Juni Dani has presented about Termination of Employment Issue in Indonesia. She explained general legal framework regarding termination of employment, its issues and the steps of how the termination of employment could be conducted under Law No 13 of 2003 (“Manpower Law”).
Specifically, she points out the grounds for termination in Indonesia’s Manpower Law and explains several interesting issues regarding this matter, among others:
- Issue related to termination based on employee’s severe misconduct;
- Issue related to termination based on violation of company’s regulation, employment agreement or collective bargaining agreement;
- Issue related to termination based on employee’s voluntary resignation;
- Issue related to termination based on company’s efficiency measures; and
- Issue related to termination of foreign employee.
In conclusion, she argues that termination of employment in Indonesia can be time consuming and costly, and it is important to set up a tool to minimize exposure of employer’s liabilities by drafting and updating company regulations; and proposing pre-termination discussions.