The Legal Foundation of Indonesia’s Foreign Policy, with Special Reference to Law No. 37 Year 1999

Introduction

The purpose of this presentation was to examine in a critical way the legal foundation of Indonesia’s foreign relations and foreign policy, in particular Law No. 37 of 1999 on Foreign Relations. In order to obtain a comparative insight, the presentation also touched on the legal sources of foreign policy of other countries, especially ASEAN member countries.

The presentation showed that Law No. 39 of 1999 on Foreign Relations needs to be strengthened, bearing in mind new developments in and outside Indonesia that affect the country’s foreign policy.

In light of strengthening Law No. 37 of 1999, and taking into account present condition and future development, there are at least eleven aspects that need considering. Those aspects include: (a) the doctrine of foreign policy and the principles and fundamental commitment in the relationship among nations; (b) actors of foreign relations of government (executive, legislature, judiciary) and non-governmental; (c) the relationship among actors; (d) regional autonomy and foreign relations; (e) consistency and coherence of policy vis-à-vis the diversity of actors in foreign policy and foreign relations; (f) foreign policy planning; (g) institutional aspects; (h) management and organizational aspects; (i) dispute settlement; (j) the choice of foreign policy instruments; and (k) foreign policy and democracy. These are key elements that should exist in a separate law on foreign relations and foreign policy of Indonesia such Law No. 37 of 1999.

The presentation also discussed some recommendations on how to keep the Law relevant to the present Indonesia.

About the Speaker

YAYAN GANDA HAYAT MULYANA is currently Assistant Special Staff to the President for International Relations. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (MFA) in 1993. During his career at the MFA, he has served as an Indonesian delegate to the meetings and conferences at various levels of the AAPP, APEC, APPF, ASEM, ASEAN, ASIA-AFRICA, ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, G-77, G20, IPU, NAM, the UN General Assembly and its Main Committees, the UN Security Council, and the UN Human Rights Council. He has also assumed responsibilities in various divisions of the MFA, including Head of the Secretariat for Special Envoys of the President. His first diplomatic posting was at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the UN in New York (2000 – 2004). The second posting was also at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the UN in New York, serving as the Political Coordinator of the Indonesian Team to the UN Security Council (2007 – 2008). He then served at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore as the Coordinator of Information, Social and Cultural Affairs, also as the Spokesperson of the Embassy (2009 – 2010). He graduated cum laude from University of Padjadjaran, Department of International Relations (1992); pursued in the US two master programmes under the Fulbright scholarship (1996 – 1998) and a doctoral programme (2000 – 2004) majoring political science, IR and public administration. He was a Research Fellow at the Center for Global Change and Governance, Rutgers University, USA (Spring 2003 – Spring 2004); the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies (Fall 2009 – Spring 2010), City University of New York; and Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School for International Studies, Nanyang Technological University (Fall 2010 – Spring 2011). He was awarded the International Affairs Karen D. Jenkins King Award by the Ohio University, USA (1998); was a Class Valedictorian of the Junior-Level (1993) as well as Mid-Career (2005) Diplomatic Training Programme at the Centre for Education and Training, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was also an Alumnus of the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme, Den Haag, the Joint Programme SIPA Columbia University-UNITAR POCI on UN Studies, New York, the Peace Operations and Conflict Resolutions Programme of the Institute of World Affairs, Washington, DC.

Chairperson for the Seminar

Professor Walter Woon
David Marshall Professor of Law
Senior Counsel
Deputy Chairman, Centre for International Law
Dean, Singapore Institute of Legal Education
Honorary Fellow, Singapore Institute of Directors

Presentation

To download Dr Mulyana’s presentation in PDF format, click here.