In its development, the concept of class action is apparently also accepted and practiced in continental countries that embraced the statute law system (a system that emphasizes the creation of regulations through legislation made by parliament) including Indonesia. Therefore, a class action in Indonesia is a relatively new legal phenomenon in the country’s world of justice.

The Classification of Class Action in Indonesia Based on the Regulation

Class action in Indonesia is classified based on the following types of law:

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

With Construction Service Law as an exception, the above types of law do not particularly establish procedural law on filing a lawsuit of a class action in Indonesia. Hence, in 2002, The Supreme Court set up a regulation on the procedural law on class action lawsuits, that primarily refers to the civil procedural law. All cases that refer to respective types of law above can be filed as lawsuits of a class action in Indonesia.

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.

Case Examples of Class Action In Indonesia And Other Countries

Some examples of class action cases include:

In India, there was the Bhopal case (1985), a lawsuit filed by victims of toxic gas leaks from the chemical company/Union “Union Carbide”. Meanwhile, in the United States, there was the Agent Orange case (1987), a lawsuit filed by thousands of Vietnam war veterans against company owners/manufacturers of toxic chemicals called “Agent Orange”—a kind of dioxin—that has caused physical disability to the victims. In the end, the panel of judges granted them grand compensation of US$250,000,000!

Back in 1993, in the Philippines, the Minor Oposa case happened, which was a lawsuit filed by 41 underage children represented by their parents against the Philippine Environment Minister about the cancellation of the logging plan, arguing that deforestation had caused suffering and loss to the plaintiffs and future generations.

In Indonesia: the Bentoel Remaja cigarette case (1988) was filed by a Lawyer, namely R.O. Tambunan, S.H. representing the interests of the people who object to the use of the name “Bentoel Remaja” cigarettes because it can potentially provoke the interest of smoking cigarettes among teenagers. Although rejected, the lawyer’s effort was not in vain. Bentoel finally pulled the problematic product out of circulation.

There was also a lawsuit filed by Tempo magazine’s readership group in 2014. Approximately 1,000 readers sued for the reason of losing the right to obtain information. They assessed the Minister of Information Regulation (Permenpen) No. 1/Year 1984 which became the basis of the Minister of Information Decree to suppress Tempo was contrary to the Basic Press Law. Therefore, they demanded that the Supreme Court as the highest judicial institution carry out the judicial review rights to the Minister of Defense.

So, are you interested in filing a lawsuit of class action in Indonesia as well?

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