International Law

The New Negative List for Foreign Direct Investment 2010 (Confirmed)

Posted on June 15, 2010
  On my previous post, I blogged about the new rule on negative list of investment (Daftar Negatif Investasi or ?DNI?). The BKPM recently issued a press release about this. Here?s a snippet:   8)  Several sectors give opportunities for foreign capital to more help strengthening the financing capacity for domestics: a...

The new investment negative list (2010)

Posted on June 09, 2010
  As of today, still no news in BKPM?s website about the new Presidential Regulation 36/2010 on investment?s negative list. But below is the new list according to some news source. Note: as I don?t have the Perpres 36 with me yet, please treat this as an unconfirmed...

What does ?BP? stand for?

Posted on June 08, 2010
Allrite mate, time for sum intermezzo. Here's a homework for you CSR and social media experts. That fake BPGlobalPR twitter account just crowdsource a disparaging quizz a few minutes ago. What does BP stand for? he asked. Well, here's a snippet of the answers: @bpglobalpr - Twitter Search via kwout

Reminder: Audio Conference on Consumers Rights in Water Services

Posted on June 02, 2010
Reminder: An audio conference with the topic "Protection of water consumer's rights in Indonesia" will be held on this page today, June 2, 19.00-20.30 (GMT+0) -- that's around 1.a.m. Jakarta Time (GMT+6)! The discussion will be in Bahasa Indonesia...

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Diplomatic protection for freedom flotilla victims

Posted on June 01, 2010
  I interviewed an Indonesian government official about the Flotilla incident. As you might have been aware, around 12 Indonesian journalists and volunteers are on board the vessels, which makes this issue even more emotive for the Indonesian. The key question is what diplomatic avenues are available to protect our citizens there and as a follow-up to that, what mechanisms of redress is available under International Law...

Join WASH United!

Posted on May 31, 2010
The world now comes together in South Africa to celebrate football and to cheer the teams to victory. However, the sad news is that during the time-span of each match, 140 African children will lose their lives to preventable diarrhea. In fact, diarrhea caused by dirty water, lack of toilets and poor hygiene kills more children than malaria, measles and HIV/AIDS combined! This crisis has no place in the 21st century and it is high time we all redouble our efforts to end it...

Protection of Water Consumer?s Rights in Indonesia (Online Discussion)

Posted on May 29, 2010
Indonesia in Motion will hold an online discussion on how to protect water consumer?s rights in Indonesia. The discussion will be held in Bahasa Indonesia. You can either register through event brite or follow the instructions below.   Following is the announcement (in Bahasa Indonesia):   Serial diskusi 'Indonesia in Motion' Insya Allah akan mengudara lagi pada jumat pekan depan tanggal 4 Juni 2010...

Privacy concerns in cloud computing

Posted on May 28, 2010
In previous posts, I argue for the benefits of cloud computing for lawyers, lawfirms and government. However, cloud computing also posses some risks and the existing legal framework may not be adequate to tacke the problem. Read the recent ACLU publication (click on the image): ?Cloud computing??the ability to create, store, and manipulate data through Web-based services?is growing in popularity...

Hukum Air (Water Law) is not really a topic in Indonesia

Posted on May 24, 2010
  I tried googling ?water law? in Google.com (the Indonesian term is ?hukum air?) and on the first google page, I found no reference to any site relevant to my search. If you click on the link, you will find that everything on the page is related to the religious law pertaining water for prayers or religious activities...

The Economist and the human right to water

Posted on May 22, 2010
H.T to Bo. The economist recently released an excellent report on water. But there are some parts of the report that disturbs me a little: Industrial use takes about 60% of water in rich countries and 10% in the rest. The difference in domestic use is much smaller, 11% and 8% respectively...

Transparency Agenda in Water Utilities Regulation

Posted on May 20, 2010
  I contributed a paper about the transparency agenda in water utilities regulation and the role of Freedom of Information Law for the next edition of the Journal of Water Law. The case studies are England and Indonesia. The paper is quite relevant for the situation in Indonesia as the Freedom of Information Law has just been recently enacted and not so many literature is available...

Indonesia: Turning Critics into Criminal (HRW 2010 Report)

Posted on May 19, 2010
  The HRW 2010 report released earlier this May focused on Indonesia?s defamation law. According to the Human Rights Watch?s press release: The 91-page report, "Turning Critics into Criminals: The Human Rights Consequences of Criminal Defamation Law in Indonesia," documents recent cases in which criminal libel, slander, and "insult" laws have been used to silence public criticism...

Your Paper Makes SSRN Top Ten List

Posted on May 17, 2010
Good news from SSRN:   Dear Mohamad Mova al 'Afghani: Your paper, "Religious Freedom in Indonesia Before and after Constitutional Amendments", was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for Asian Law eJournal, HRN Religious Studies Research Network, REL Subject Matter eJournals and Religion & Culture eJournal - Forthcoming...

Jakarta?s water crisis, whose fault?

Posted on May 16, 2010
  The company refused to be blamed:   ?The massive silting that broke the pump in Pulogadung was caused by the declining quality of water. We fixed the pump and parts of the pipeline network,? Yosua said. ?This  shortage is not entirely our fault...

HOWTO: Tweet the right lawyers

Posted on May 13, 2010
  (and get a free advice on something) Jennifer asked: Who would be a good person to tweet for advise on Clemency and human rights? I support Australian Schapelle Corby who is mentally ill and her lawyer has appealed to the Indonesian president for clemency...

Supreme Court Decision on Water Monopoly in Batam

Posted on May 11, 2010
Quick Blogging.The Supreme Court recently upholds KPPU (the Indonesian Competition Commission) condemning PT. Adhya Tirta Batam (ATB) for violating Article 17 of the Competition Law. The KPPU Decision reads:PT. Adhya Tirta Batam is proven legally and convincingly violating Article 17 of Law Number 5 Year 1999 concerning Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition;PT...

Water companies duty to satisfy reasonable demands

Posted on May 11, 2010
    Suppose you have just built a new home in a nice city. All your neighbours has water connection, unfortunately, the local water company refuse to extend their pipes into your property. Do you think they are acting against the law?   Before we argue on the basis of positive law, I will first raise the issue on what the law ?should be? : Do you think the law should obligate water companies to provide connections to consumer? To put it into other terms, can water companies refuse a connection request? If they can, under what basis?   The answer to the first question is ?yes?...

Where to complain for bad water services ? a comparison

Posted on May 11, 2010
  If you are in England, UK:     Consumer Council for Water : Consumer Council for Water via kwout     If you are in Victoria, Australia: Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) via kwout       If you are in Indonesia:     Homepage ? Website OMBUDSMAN RI via kwout     With one caveat however...

The right to water = the trees? right to water?

Posted on May 10, 2010
I hope our brother blog would have some time to indulge us in this never ending debate about the right to water (IUCN paper here): The term ?right to water? does not only refer to the rights of people but also to the needs of the environment with regard to river basins, lakes, etc...

ABAnet Twitter Debate on Virtual Law Office

Posted on May 08, 2010
Quick blogging. Follow this hashtag #22TwDb   Twitter Debate: Virtual Law Offices -- Game Changer or Business as Usual? (w/Transcript) - News - ABA Journal 

Gender and Development Special Issue: Water

Posted on May 06, 2010
Hat Tip to Mulia. Oxfam/Routledge published a special issue on water in Gender and Development Journal. The articles can be downloaded for free. Gender and community mobilisation for urban water infrastructure investment in southern Nigeria Charisma Acey 'Good' water governance and gender equity: a troubled relationship Frances Cleaver and Kristin Harmada Sustainable development, water resources management and women's empowerment: the Wanaraniya Water Project in Sri Lanka Seela Aladuwaka and Janet Momsen Unequal burden: water privatisation and women's human rights in Tanzania Rebecca Brown After the summit: women's access to water and policymaking in Brazil Marianna Leite Oxfam experience of providing screened toilet, bathing and menstruation units in its earthquake response in Pakistan Jamila Nawaz, Shamma Lal, Saira Raza and Sarah House Can water professionals meet gender goals? A case study of the Department of Irrigation in Nepal Pranita B...

Four Ways to Fix a Broken Legal System?

Posted on May 06, 2010
From Ted:   1. You've got to judge law mainly by its effect on the broader society, not individual disputes. 2. For law to be the platform for freedom, people have to trust it. 3. Law sets boundaries, and on one side of those boundaries are all the things you can't do or must do...

Data Transfer, the DPR?s Style

Posted on May 06, 2010
According to Vivanews and Kompas, one trolley worth of documents from the House?s Special Investigative Unit for the Century scandal is ?missing? *.  The Jakarta post reported:   Separately, Gayus Lumbuun from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that the House leaders had to explain what really happened on the documents which should have been completely sent to the KPK...

14 Disturbing Facts about Jakarta's Water

Posted on May 04, 2010
Video: Kruha The Jakarta Globe runs a special edition about Jakarta's Water last year and wrap them nicely in a downloadable PDF. I will sum up the statistics quoted by the globe in this Water special edition: 1. 20% of Jakartans have no access to toilet 2...

Troubled Waters: Confronting the Water Crisis in Australia?s Cities (Free Ebook)

Posted on May 03, 2010
Quick Blogging. For water enthusiasts, there?s a free ebook from ANU Press titled Troubled Waters: Confronting the Water Crisis in Australia?s Cities. Click on the snippet below to download.   Here?s the abstract: Must we build more dams and desalination plants, or should we be managing the demand for urban water more prudently? This book explores the demand for urban water and how it has changed in response to shifting social mores over the past century...

Twittering the Indonesian Legal Community

Posted on May 03, 2010
Some of the most prominent figures of the Indonesian legal community is sharing their thoughts in twitter. Sometimes, when they are happy, they provide advices too, with 140 characters, that is. (Hey, in this world, nothing is free, except for advices...

Sunday Test Post

Posted on May 02, 2010
Hi All, I am trying to use LiveWriter and checks if the blogger label functions properly. Wish you all a nice weekend! del.icio.us Tags: blog,law

6 Free Collaboration Tools for Lawyers

Posted on May 02, 2010
You just start up a small law firm and can?t afford to pay expensive IT costs? No problem. There are tons of freebies out there which you can use to enhance your law firm?s productivity. 1. Delicious Bookmarks cluttered your browser page? Use bookmarking sites...

EPA Launches Interactive Clean Water Act Violations Website

Posted on April 30, 2010
Another exciting transparency tool from the US: interactive disclosure of yearly clean water act violations. According to the EPA's Press Release:The new web page provides interactive information from EPA?s 2008 Annual Noncompliance Report, which pertains to about 40,000 permitted Clean Water Act dischargers across the country...

Tomorrow, the Freedom of Information Law is in force!

Posted on April 29, 2010
Let's not forget that tomorrow, Law No. 14 Year 2008 on the Openness of Public Information (FoI Law) will be in full force. What it means is that you can now request any information to government agencies, NGOs and State Owned Enterprises.To get a glimpse on how the law looks like, read my article here...

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