Have you ever thought of filing a lawsuit of a class action in Indonesia but still confused about what to do? No problem, find out the procedure here.

 

Today, plenty of legal solutions do not provide justice to the public. There have been many governmental policies—instead of prioritizing the people—cornering them and increasing poverty in this country. The society is still lacking awareness of what legal efforts can be done when facing legal cases that harm them. For that reason, the regulation of class action in Indonesia was made.

 

 

The Law that Regulates Class Action in Indonesia

A class action lawsuit is filed by one person or more on behalf of a group or an organization against one defendant (or a group as a defendant). The representatives must be members of the group or organization they defend and have the same facts and claims.

 

The procedure for filing a lawsuit of a class action in Indonesia is recognized in our legal system after the issuance of Law No. 23 of 1997 concerning Environmental Management. In the following two years, Law No. 8 of 1999 about Consumer Protection emerged, as well as the Law No. 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry which regulates the explicit mechanism of the “Group Representative Lawsuits” (class action lawsuits) in one article.

 

Class action in Indonesia is only recognized under the following types of law:

• The law of environment protection and management
• The law of consumer protection
• The law of construction services
• The law of forestry

 

The regulation of class action in Indonesia was designed to accommodate the legal developments that exist in the community and for the sake of efficiency in resolving legal violations that harm many people/communities. For example, the cost of a case becomes cheaper because the lawsuit is filed together, so much time is saved as the judge has to examine only one case for many, and the interests of many people can be accommodated in one lawsuit and another.

 

 

Steps on Filing a Lawsuit of Class Action in Indonesia

The stages of submitting a lawsuit of a class action in Indonesia are as follows:

1. Group organizing
2. Data and fact collecting
3. Problem mapping and analysis
4. Submission of the letter of lawsuits

 

After preparing the requirements and compiling a lawsuit letter according to civil procedure law. The lawsuit must state the identity of the parties (the plaintiff and defendant parties), concrete arguments about the existence of a legal relation which is the basis and reasons for the lawsuits.

 

The following is clearer information on what should be included in a lawsuit of a class action in Indonesia:

• The identity of each party should be complete and actual, e., the plaintiff consists of group representatives and group members, as well as the defendant.
• The group(s) must be defined in detail and specific, even without naming members one by one. Information of the group members is required in relation to the obligation to make notifications.
• Fundamentum Petendi, concrete arguments for the legal relations that form the basis of the demands of the entire group which are stated clearly and in detail.

 

Then, the judge will examine and consider the criteria and conditions of the lawsuit. There are two possible judge decisions in the preliminary examination, namely (1) a decision stating that the procedure of the group’s lawsuits is declared valid and (2) a decision stating the procedure is otherwise (invalid). If it is declared valid, a form of notification and the approval of the panel judges will be requested.

 

Notification process by the judges can be done via print media, online news media, or directly to group members. The purpose of the notification is for all group members and the community to know that their fate is being fought for through a class action lawsuit.

 

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