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Monday, March 29, 2021 | 08:41 WIB

Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams speaking at a national webinar by the Tangerang branch executive board of Peradi and the Faculty of Sharia and Law of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Saturday (27/3/2021) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK.

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams spoke at a national webinar on “The Legal Prospects and Challenges amid COVID-19 Pandemic.” The virtual event was organized by the Tangerang branch executive board (DPC) of the Association of Indonesian Advocates (Peradi) in collaboration with the Faculty of Sharia and Law of UIN (State Islamic University) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta on Saturday afternoon, March 27, 2021.

“The topic portrays the creativity of DPC Peradi as organizer collaborating with the Faculty of Sharia and Law. This topic motivates, drives, and impacts the legal-related daily living,” said Justice Wahiduddin to the administrators and members of the Tangerang branch DPC Peradi and the other participants.

However, he said he’d like to deviate a little to a more general issue: the challenges of the legal profession, not only in the pandemic but also anticipating information technology developments in Industry 4.0. “I observed that there are challenges in the pandemic anticipating Industry 4.0 in the use of information technology,” he explained.

The COVID-19 pandemic, he added, has forced and accelerated the use of technology in all professions, including the law. Restrictions of in-person meeting prompted people to stay behind their smartphones and laptops using video conference applications such as Zoom. This also applies in courtrooms, where hearings are now conducted virtually, forcing judicial bodies to adjust to the demand.

“The Industry 4.0 is not unlike the pandemic. The difference is that the use of technology in the pandemic was prompted by necessity. In addition to deviating from the topic of legal challenges in the pandemic to Industry 4.0, since I’m not a legal practitioner—in this case lawyer or advocate, I will not talk about the lawyer and advocate professions, but my daily life as a constitutional justice,” he said.

Impacts of Industry 4.0

Justice Wahiduddin divided his lecture into two subtopics. First, the legal challenges in terms of technology in facing Industry 4.0. second, the experience of the Constitutional Court in facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Industry 4.0 is associated with the industry of services and commodities that utilizes technology. The services and commodities then dramatically and revolutionarily changed the commercial market and how people live their lives,” he explained.

He talked about online ojek (motorcycle taxi) in the transportation service. The online ojek changed the land transportation system and market and is now up against the taxi industry that has long dominated big cities. Big names in the taxi industry didn’t feel threatened by competition of fellow taxi, but it was threatened by the emergence of online transport. This is one of the examples of what happens in Industry 4.0.

Suggestions

In the legal profession, Justice Wahiduddin added, lawyers and advocates might feel the impacts of Industry 4.0. So, he suggested that they read The End of Lawyers by Richard Susskind. Susskind believes that law firms would face pressure if they didn’t change the ways they offer legal services. Users of legal services no longer tolerate high fees for legal advice, legal documents, and legal cases.

“Because this type of jobs can be done by users of legal services themselves using technology,” Justice Wahiduddin said.

In his second book Tomorrow’s Lawyers, Susskind identifies the types of technology in law that have revolutionized the legal profession, such as automated drafting and search of legal documents. He also talks about the need for fast and widely available internet network, which is a prerequisite to access of legal information. This need has been met in big cities rather than in the regions. In addition, nowadays legal services are offered online.

Judiciary amid Pandemic

So, what about the application of Industry 4.0 in the judiciary during this pandemic? Justice Wahiduddin explained that legal disputes and cases don’t need to be resolved in court in person, as they can be resolved via video conference, where litigants and the panel of judges meet without physical presence in the same room.

"In this case, the court is a service and delivers justice through a decision that resolves the case of the disputing parties. The application of video conferencing in trials without the need for litigants and witnesses to appear in the courtroom is a form of the effectiveness of the judicial process thanks to technology," he said.

There is no need for witness examination to be lengthy and in-person in the courtroom, leading to expedient trials. The use of information technology translates to efficiency and effectiveness, as digital rather than physical files facilitate case tracking and evidence filing.

“Video conference for examining witnesses or listening to statements from parties makes physical presence less needed in the courtroom. This is coupled with live streaming, where people can watch the hearing without having to be present in the courtroom," Justice Wahiduddin said. 

Writer: Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor: Nur R.

Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti
Editor: NL

Translation uploaded on 3/30/2021 11:25 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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