FH UGM held another guest lecture for undergraduate students on Friday, October 28, 2022, in Room III.1.1, Building III of the Faculty of Law. The lecture's theme was “Tort Conducted by Administrative Bodies: Comparative Law Perspective between the Netherlands and Indonesia” featuring Prof. Dr. Albertjan Tolenaar (lecturer, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) and Dr. Richo Andi Wibowo (lecturer, FH UGM).
Prof. Tolenaar explained State Liability with the question, “What will happen if the government harms its citizens?” Taking the example of a situation where the government harms a citizen, what can we do? The goal is to obtain compensation money from the government. Not only that, Prof. Tolenaar also explained the characteristics of State Liability and the causes of damage caused by the government, so that the students could better understand the concept of State Liability.
The lecture then moved to Unlawful Legislation , situations where a government, in exercising discretion to create regulations, oversteps the bounds of its legislative authority.
"Take the example of the implementation of a 'lockdown.' People are still trying to ascertain beforehand whether it is truly against the law if they do not comply with the regulation. Because with this regulation, it means they cannot sell their merchandise, cannot earn money, and so on," explained Prof. Toleenar.
Following Prof. Tolenaar's presentation, Dr. Richo continued the lecture, addressing the question of which court holds jurisdiction when a government action violates the law. He noted the potential benefit of expanding the authority of the Administrative Court (PTUN) to oversee administrative actions, but also pointed out a drawback: first-instance administrative courts are only located in provincial capitals, and of Indonesia's 33 provincial capitals, only 28 currently have an established first-instance PTUN. As a result, distance can pose a significant burden for people seeking justice to actually reach a court.
The guest lecture closed with a Q&A session, open to both students and faculty members in attendance.
