On 20-21 November 2014 the Working Group Indonesia of the Dutch Knowledge Platform on Security and Rule of Law organises the first Indonesia Netherlands Legal Update in The Hague.

The Update will bring together a selected number of Indonesian and Dutch researchers, practitioners and policy makers interested in legal cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands. It will offer a platform for discussion of important legal developments in both Indonesia and the Netherlands. This will help strengthen the current and future bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands in the fields of security and rule of law, as well as assist in identifying priorities for future legal cooperation and/or applied research. The Update shall give special attention to, but is not limited to, developments related to ‘Access to Justice’, ‘Legal Education’ and ‘Institutional Reform’.

For many years Indonesian and Dutch legal institutions institutes, researchers, and practitioners have collaborated in programmes of research, technical assistance and bilateral exchange concerning Indonesia’s legal system. These programmes have contributed to rule of law promotion and capacity development, as well as generated important insights into the functioning of Indonesia’s legal system. The Update seeks to build on this foundation and further expand and deepen the cooperation.

Indonesia’s abundant natural resources have always been a major area of foreign economic interest. International companies are well established in Indonesia’s oil-, gas-, mining-, and plantation sectors. The recent worldwide interest in farm land that has become known as the global ‘land grab’, has furthermore identified Indonesia as a highly likely destination for investments in food crops.
During the Update, a panel brings together presenters discussing realities of investment in Indonesia. In subsequent presentations, they looks at the roles, expectations and impacts of foreign investors, the legal community, and the local communities at the project sites. As such, the panel speaks to the event chain of investment and, in doing so, addresses the overall theme of the development of Indonesia as a destination for (foreign) businesses and investment. The panel seeks to address critical issues such as the clarity of the law, the efficiency of the process, and the attitudes of practitioners and authorities in order to come to a ‘state of affairs’ that encompasses difficulties as well as the opportunities that Indonesia’s business climate provides to foreign parties. As such, we aim to come to an understanding of the strong and the weak points of the current legal framework governing investment in Indonesia, as experienced and identified by practitioners.

The Update is organized by the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance, and Development, Leiden Law School, on behalf of the Working Group Indonesia and supported by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Jakarta and the Secretariat of the Knowledge Platform on Security and Rule of Law. The working group ‘Indonesia- Justice and Development’ is a networking group under the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law, initiated by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This Dutch network focuses on the exchange of knowledge and experiences regarding legal co-operation between Indonesia and the Netherlands and relevant current developments in the legal and security sector in Indonesia.
The Indonesia Netherlands Legal Update conference is fully booked.
If you would like to be included on a waiting list to register, please send an email to:

For more information on the Update, visit the website of the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law.