Comparing Essay: Australia and Indonesia Legal System

The Australian and Indonesian political systems are different in many ways. One of the ways that they are different is that Australia has a prime minister and Indonesia has a president. Indonesian president Joko Widodo has lots of power, the laws do go through the DPR before they are announced to the public. In Australia the Bill has to go from the party of representatives and then it has to go through the senate and after it has been through all that then it becomes a law after the Governor-General signs it on behalf of the Queen. The two major differences can be seen in the head of the state and the differences in the government. Both countries have two chambers in parliament. This shows some of the differences and similarities.

Australia’s political system was established on 1st January 1901. “Between 1855 and 1890 the British Parliament granted a limited right to set up a local system of government.” (State Library New South Wales, 2008). When Australia was federated, there was a constitution was made and that states the rules for the way parliament runs. “Law of Indonesia is based on a civil law system, intermixed with local customary law and the Roman Dutch law.” (Undang-Undang Republic, 1946). The Indonesian’s political system was created in 1945. This constitution shows how the political system runs in Indonesia and how the laws are created. Australia and Indonesia have some things in common such as that both countries have a constitution and both of them where created not even 50 years apart and they do hold a lot of different laws.

Indonesia holds a lot of values that are important to them. One value that they value a lot is equal pay around the country. This is important because before the constitution was put into place women could not work and if they did work they would get a very small amount and they would have to work for hours. “Generally, Indonesians are very gracious people who enjoy affection and have a desire to please” (Cultural Atlas, 2018). Australia has some different values such as respect for freedom and dignity for people. This means that everyone has a say and everyone get treated the same. Another value is that there is freedom of religion which means they can have any religion and it is not judged. There are some differences between the two countries and their values.

The division of power is separated into different ways because there are different ways that they are separated. Indonesia’s government holds all the power. Their constitution states there is limited separation of powers, legislative and judicial power. “The legislature makes the laws; the executive puts the laws into operation; and the judiciary interprets the laws” (Parliament of New South Wales, 2000). Australia share the powers with there being two chambers of parliament. This shows that there are different ways the country shares it powers. This does show that both countries have division of powers and how that makes a difference on both countries.

The way that division of power is divided does affect how citizens to be active and informed. In Indonesia this does affect the citizens in a way because they do not get to have a say on what goes on in parliament; the only thing they get a say on is who is the president and that is all they can say by directly electing that person. In Australia the people have a massive say on what goes on in parliament and if there is a big law that can change the shape of the country and what goes in the country all the people of Australia get to have their say and all Australians can vote to change a law only if it requires changes to the constitution. This shows that different powers this does show that it can affect people. There are multiple different branches in the Australian parliament system such as legislative, executive and judicial these helps separate the powers.  

In conclusion this shows how different legal systems effect different countries and their citizens. This shows how much difference a legal system can make some legal systems can affect other countries in some certain ways. The Indonesian legal system does have only one in power and in Australia there are hundreds of people with some power and they have the ability to change laws there are a few bills going through the house of. In Indonesia there are laws that have to also go through parliament. Both chambers from Australia and Indonesia can make laws just the way that the countries go through it and how fast the countries can make bills a law. This does show the different ways how different legal systems can make different impacts citizens and the country. This also shows what the difference makes on the political system can make, and how they can differ from 2 countries that are so close together.