General
LGS Online changes dramatically the way legal services are provided in Indonesia. Internet technology has been used widely in many other jurisdictions by various different industries including legal services. The legal services are in general very much attached to the legal systems, structure of legal institutions, legal culture, and the business, social and political environment of the jurisdiction where the legal services are provided.
In that regard, Indonesia is very unique. Inheriting the civil law system from the Dutch since the Dutch occupation period, Indonesian legal system is also adopting modern principles of laws developed in the common law countries. Indonesia has also been trying to adopt the traditional and local values (adat law) into its laws which were promulgated after the independence of Indonesia in 1945. Indonesian courts do not adopt the stare decisis principle, and use the Supreme Court decisions merely as a guideline in adjudicating newer cases. The government policy has strong application. It could be in the form of Presidential decree, Ministerial decree, decision of a Director General, and sometime even from a lower bureaucratic level. The present general perception is that laws in Indonesia are not consistent, overlapping and ad hoc or temporary in application.
The reformation after the fall of Suharto in 1998 gives another unique feature to Indonesia. Freedom of the press which makes everything transparent in Indonesia is not unfortunately followed by reform efforts in other sectors.
The unique conditions of Indonesia as described above give a special burden but at the same time requiring Indonesian legal profession to master the skill, ability and creativity in providing legal services in a turbulent and flolatile situation. Interpreting the law, applying it to the clients’ specific requirements, dealing with the policy makers, and settling disputes before the courts of law are totally different from those jurisdictions that have established long history of jurisprudence, independency and integrity of judiciary.
Business people around the globe understand the potentials of Indonesia as producer and at the same time as potential markets. Indonesia is one of the largest woods, agriculture, oil and gas, and mining products in the world. 210 million people across thousands of islands spreading in a territory stretched as far as from Seattle to New York or from Perth to Sydney have increasing buying power. Until today, business people, or their lawyers, interested to invest or making commercial dealings in Indonesia have to come to Indonesia, and ask for legal assistance from Indonesian lawyers who are supposed to have better understanding in completing a deal in Indonesia. The legal services would be provided traditionally, i.e., the lawyers would review the matters, doing some research, issuing opinion and recommendation to the clients. This is inevitably expensive and taking a considerable time. The traveling to Indonesia, meeting the lawyers, and understanding the deals are some of the important factors delaying the deals. The Asia economic crisis, international terrorism and the recent Bali and Jakarta Marriot's hotel bombing, and most recently the SARS’ threat in the region have prevented the business people from traveling to the region, including Indonesia.
LGS Online in cooperation with law firm Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo (LGS) is the first making efforts to bridge the need of the business people to explore business opportunities in Indonesia offered by the Indonesian business and Government through the introduction of integrated online legal services. LGS Online also provides enormous legal database established by LGS for more than 25 years of its international corporate practices in Indonesia and the region. With a simple click, the members of LGS Online will be able to access necessary information and data on how to protect their business interests in Indonesia. The members shall be able to access more than 6,000 laws and regulations that could be down-loaded on line. Those are mostly in Indonesian language. In time, the English version of the most important laws and regulations for business will be also available on line. Samples of contracts and documents are also provided in various fields of law practices. All are obtainable round the clock and from any corner of the globe with very reasonable pricing policy and high degree of reliability. If specific legal issue arises, the member could communicate through email with any of the partners of LGS with a guaranteed time frame of delivery of answer. In the near future, the feature will also include a real time communication with any of the partners.
The membership
During its early launching period, LGS Online could be accessed and utilized by the LGS existing active clients only. When all infra structure and data base are sufficiently available to support projected level of services, LGS Online will be offered to anyone who applies to become a member and complies strictly with the terms and conditions of the LGS Online membership. Applying for membership could be easily done on line, and when approved, the member could promptly be able to access our valuable features and database. When it is open for public, the members have the option to use the features and database of LGS Online through the following fashions: (a) becoming a retainer member by paying a fixed discounted fee against the use of certain number of documents from LGS Legal Database pursuant to the LGS Online pricing policy, or (b) becoming a regular member and use the documents in the LGS Legal database as needed, and for which LGS Online will charge the member on a monthly basis with regular fee schedule applied to regular members, or (c) combination of the two systems.
The features of LGS Online
Indonesia Under Review
This part provides members with a comprehensive analysis on certain important aspects of Indonesia. It covers the most recent direction of laws and public policies that affect business. It also gives general information on macro economics, business and related factors. Business in Indonesia has never been separated from politics. We will also report the most recent political conditions in Indonesia, who’s who in politics, important events and the influence to the business.
This feature will be updated monthly, however, urgent news that may have importance to business will be promptly reported in another feature: news and opportunities, so the members will always be updated on what’s going on in Indonesia on a regular and timely basis.
News and Opportunities
This will feature most recent news, information and opportunities in Indonesia important for business people, international lawyers, consultants, investment bankers and others. Typical information will include privatization of state owned-companies, phenomenal public offerings, infra structure projects, project finances, mega projects and other business and investment opportunities. This also informs the members on important changes in government policy that may attract or affect new business, so investors would be in the position to react and protect their interests in Indonesia in due course. The new laws and policies are also reported in another feature so called the LGS Newsletters.
LGS News
This feature explains involvement of LGS in important legal deals in Indonesia and in the region, and other aspects in the life of LGS that may invite interests of the members.
About LGS
This explains LGS and its activites, track records and experience in important assignments, its partners and lawyers, areas of practice, networking and others.
Message from the Board
From time to time the CEO of LGS Online will explain what's new on LGS Online, LGS and important issues that need attention from LGS Online members.
LGS Newsletter
LGS newsletter will report news and information on new laws, regulations and government policy that affect business in general, and from time to time reports on specific industries. This way will update business people with insight of laws, regulations and government policies that may be useful in directing their business targets and projections.
Who’s who in Indonesia
The list is important for those who are not familiar with the mapping of power, politics, and cultura in Indonesia today.
Important Addresses
This reference is useful tool in contacting government departments, agencies and institutions.
LGS Legal Database
Explanation on this part is available in the LGS Legal Database section. Please click the appropriate feature. Basically, it contains :
English language laws and regulations
Indonesian language laws and regulations
LGS Legal Memoranda
LGS Forms and Agreements
LGS Boilerplate Provisions
Selected Court Decisions or Litigation Reports
Pricing Policy
The reasonable pricing policy may be seen in the feature Becoming a Member. Please click the appropriate feature.
A New Cornerstone of Legal Services in Indonesia
Periodical Review of Indonesian Politics, Economy and Other Public Issues
LGS Newsletter on Various Legal and Business Issues
Government Officials and Prominent Business Actors in Indonesia
Important Addresses You Should Know
