Indonesia's Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) has barred the central government from purchasing a 7% stake in Newmont Mining's Indonesian assets. According to The Jakarta Post, the majority argued that the government needed to submit the purchase to the House of Representatives (DPR) first for inclusion into the budget.
However, the decision was a close, with 4 dissenters. The dissenters argued that the state has a constitutional obligation under Article 33 to own and manage natural resources (as exemplified by the 2004 Electricity case).
It seems like the majority opinion focused on the procedural issue of legislative approval, not whether the state can purchase the shares. The case does not include any concurring opinions, so it is not yet clear to me whether the majority would refuse to uphold the sale next year if the DPR includes it in the budget.
Full decision (in Indonesian) available here.
Critics agree that much of Southeast Asia desperately needs judicial reform and rule of law. Yet, there is remarkably little comparative scholarship on law and legal institutions in the region. In this blog, I'll follow constitutional developments in Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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