On Thursday, February 27, 2020, the UGM Faculty of Law, in collaboration with the Centre for Legislative Drafting and the Expert Body of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), held a national seminar on the theme "Opportunities and Challenges in the 2020-2024 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas)." The event aimed to explore the opportunities and challenges in achieving the Prolegnas targets for 2020-2024, as well as the application of the Omnibus Law method in drafting the bills included in the program. The event opened with remarks from Dean of the UGM Faculty of Law, Prof. Dr. Sigit Riyanto, S.H., LL.M., who emphasized the importance of legal development and the need to align legal infrastructure with the continuous advances in technology. The seminar, attended by academics, civil society representatives, law students, and several members of the DPR RI, was divided into two sessions.
The first session opened with a presentation by Dr. Supratman Andi Agtas, S.H., M.H., Chair of the DPR RI Legislation Body (Badan Legislasi), who explained that the Prolegnas 2020-2024 comprises 248 draft bills -- significantly fewer than the initial proposal of 700. He also noted that one challenge in the DPR is that, during joint deliberation of bills with the Government, the DPR sometimes does not receive the inventory list of issues (Daftar Inventarisasi Masalah/DIM), resulting in a bill ultimately not being deliberated. The next speaker, Dr. Innosentius Samsul, S.H., M.Hum., Head of the Centre for Legislative Drafting at the DPR RI, stressed the need for discussions with experts from universities in the legislative drafting process. He also noted that the DPR's Council Support Bodies and the Expert Body would work harder and strive to accommodate input from students. The first session closed with a presentation by Dr. Bambang Kesowo, S.H., LL.M., who outlined a range of problems in the Omnibus Law bills within the Prolegnas. For example, the Job Creation Bill contains provisions that do not align with the original purposes for which the bill was formed. He noted that there are even provisions that he believes formally violate the Law on the Formation of Legislation. The former Minister-Secretary of State also emphasized that the omnibus method is a means of consolidating regulations, not for amending and revoking legislation, nor as a catch-all solution to existing problems.
In the second session, presentations were delivered by academics from the UGM Faculty of Law. Dr. Oce Madril, S.H., M.A. opened by noting that the Prolegnas targets are overly ambitious and insufficiently realistic. He also highlighted deficiencies in the legislative drafting system and the poor quality of legislation, with many overlapping laws. He further criticized the lack of transparency and public participation in the lawmaking process. A similar view was expressed by Andy Omara, S.H., M.Pub.&Int.Law., Ph.D., a UGM Faculty of Law lecturer, who raised the issue of insufficient transparency in the drafting of legislation in the DPR. He also pointed to several controversial bills that could harm certain groups and adversely affect the environment and the investment climate. The final speaker, Dr. Zainal Arifin Mochtar, S.H., LL.M., outlined the weaknesses in the Prolegnas 2020-2024. Consistent with earlier presentations, he questioned the urgency of drafting certain bills included in the program. On the omnibus law issue, he advised lawmakers not to focus solely on the omnibus approach, but also to give attention to other important bills on the Prolegnas list. The event closed with responses from DPR members in attendance and a Q&A with participants.
