Indonesia court rejects petition to review pro-investment law

A TOP court in Indonesia on Monday (Oct 2) rejected a petition launched by labour groups to review a controversial pro-investment law passed earlier this year.

Workers’ groups had petitioned the Constitutional Court to review the so-called “omnibus law” that streamlines bureaucracy to attract investment, which they said was too pro-business and was formulated in an unconstitutional manner.

Judges rejected the petition in a hearing streamed online, saying the government’s formulation of the law was in line with the Constitution.

President Joko Widodo issued an emergency decree in December to expedite parliamentary approval of the omnibus law, which in 2020 had sparked massive protests across the country as it loosened rules on mandatory severance pay and paid leave, and limited outsourcing to certain sectors.

Legal experts had criticised the presidential decree as a government ploy to bypass proper debate in parliament.

The omnibus law revised more than 70 other laws and was lauded by foreign investors for streamlining business rules in South-east Asia’s largest economy, which is notorious for its onerous bureaucracy.