Government of the Republic of Indonesia
Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution affirms that everyone gets the right for recognition, guarantee, protection, impartial legal certainty and equal treatment before the law and a human right right that must be fulfilled by the State. Legal aid services play an important role in helping the community, especially the poor, obtain their constitutional rights through free legal services mandated by Law of the Republic of Indonesia. However, in practice, these rights have not been fully realized due to several factors, Including:
- Limited budget for national legal assistance followed the increasing legal cases handled
- Limited range of legal assistance due to the unequal distribution of the Legal Aid Organization (LAO) to the regions outside Java Island
- Quality of legal aid services is still low both in terms of its institutional aspects and their capacity to handle legal cases
- Lack of legal awareness of the community, especially the poor
Indonesia’s access to justice commitment seeks to combat the unequal distribution of legal aid services. The government of Indonesia will create regulations that guarantee funding for the legal aid organizations, allowing them to expand their reach to more remote and poorer communities. The government will also begin a civic education campaign to teach citizens how to identify rights violations and how legal aid providers can help them win justice for their grievances.