Three treaties agreed upon by Indonesia and Singapore last month will immediately be ratified by the government. This is confirmed by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD.
Ratification is the process of adopting an international treaty, constitution, or another national document through the approval of each minor entity in its part. The process of constitutional ratification is often found in federated states.
Then, the three agreements are Air Navigation Service Area Adjustment (FIR), defense cooperation (DCA), and extradition.
From the three agreements, two of them, defense cooperation (DCA) and extradition will be ratified in the form of law so that it requires the approval of the DPR.
Mahfud when giving a virtual statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, explained, “In our legal system, international agreements must be ratified to have validity. Therefore, the Government has decided to immediately ratify, the second one must go to the DPR, namely ratification (agreements). DCA for defense and ratification on extradition.”
He also explained that this agreement creates a symbiotic mutualism, mutually beneficial for both parties.
Mahfud added, “Both countries certainly benefit from each other, and Indonesia itself will benefit because we have many violations of criminal law where people flee to Singapore or store their assets in Singapore. Later, we can follow up on it for Indonesia’s benefit in law enforcement .”
On the Singapore side, the Singapore government can also ask Indonesia to extradite its citizens who have criminal cases to be tried and punished in Singapore.
He added, “The government is grateful that these three areas of the agreement can be finalized at the beginning of this year because this is a long-standing problem. The debate is whether this (ratified in the form of) Perppu, whether this is a package or not is now understood by all.”
Indonesia and Singapore on January 25, 2022, agreed on three cooperation agreements related to FIR, DCA, and extradition.
Law No. 12 of 2011 stipulates that certain national treaties must be ratified in law. Certain international agreements cover, among others, issues of politics, peace, defense, and national security.
Minister of Law and Human Rights (Menkumham) Yasonna Laoly on February 2, 2022, said that the government continues to communicate with the DPR to accelerate the ratification of the extradition treaty between Indonesia and Singapore.
The extradition agreement covers at least 31 criminal acts, including money laundering, terrorism financing, and corruption.
However, so far the DPR and the Government have not held a meeting to discuss the ratification of the extradition treaty and the DCA of Indonesia and Singapore in the form of a law.
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