Indonesian Law Institutions

Institutions of Indonesian law include:

• the informal institutions
  • nationalism,
  • formalism,
  • Mafia Hukum or the “Law Mafia.”
• the formal institutions or offices of the law:
  • government officials,
  • law offices and lawyers,
  • police and prosecutors,
  • the courts.
• the enablers, including
  • Indonesians, and
  • expatriates,
• the clueless, expatriates in paradise.

Discussions of cases often end up sounding like a jumble of inexplicable events, some so outrageous as to be nearly unbelievable. It is difficult to organize these stories in our own minds to help us understand why such things could happen, or how frequently they happen.

Looking at the institutions separately helps us understand how these things could come about and highlights the patterns.