Job Creation Law Must Be Revised Within 2 Years, Mahfud MD Ensures Legitimate Investments Can't Be Canceled

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD (Irfan Meidianto/VOI)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD ensures that investments made by investors legally cannot be canceled.

This certainty was conveyed after the Constitutional Court (MK) ruled that Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation was unconstitutional and had to be revised within two years.

"If in those two years there are investments that have been made legally, they cannot be canceled, there is certainty," Mahfud said in a statement to reporters on Monday, November 29.

This, he said, also refers to the Civil Code. Mahfud said that the agreement that had been legally made could not be arbitrarily revoked.

For this reason, the government will not act arbitrarily on investment agreements involving business people from other countries. "If we want to cancel it arbitrarily, it can become an international matter," he said.

"International cases that international arbitration must use national legal instruments. Moreover, there are bilateral and multilateral agreements in this field," added Mahfud.

Furthermore, he asked the public not to worry about the Constitutional Court's decision declaring the Job Creation Act unconstitutional. Moreover, Mahfud said, this decision only relates to procedures that must be improved.

"The public should not worry that this law will apply and the government understands that this is only a matter of procedures that are requested to be corrected, so that the entire application for judicial review concerning its contents is declared null or cannot be accepted," he explained.

"Therefore, what has been running continues, those who want to enter continue to enter based on existing laws and regulations, and the government guarantees certainty and security in terms of investment," added the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK).

Moreover, Mahfud assesses that this revision is actually in accordance with President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) focus on restructuring and deregulation in order to facilitate incoming investment. He also ensured that this revision would be carried out in less than two years.

"It will be faster than two years. The Constitutional Court has given two years. We will try to go faster than two years. So it will be easier to complete," concluded Mahfud.