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Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra delivering a keynote speech virtually at a national webinar organized by the State University of Surabaya’s Center for Legal and Developmental Studies, Saturday (19/6/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

Saturday, June 19, 2021 | 18:07 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra delivered a keynote speech at a national webinar on “Legal Developments After the COVID-19 Pandemic” organized by the State University of Surabaya’s (Unesa) Center for Legal and Developmental Studies on Saturday, June 19, 2021. Other speakers who attended the webinar were University of Jember’s civil law professor Herowati Poesoko, Padjadjaran University’s constitutional law professor Susi Dwi Harijanti, University of Indonesia’s criminal law professor Topo Santoso, and Pattimura University’s state administrative law professor Nirahua Salmon E. M.

Justice Saldi started his presentation by addressing the concerning developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. He urged participants to comply with health protocols and to pray for the end of the pandemic. “Hopefully in the near future we arrive at a much better point in the pandemic,” he said.

He talked that the term “new normal” introduced in 2020. It means adjusting to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. “So, our lives changed completely. We used to shake hands. Now it is difficult to do. We probably go as far as bumping fists as a greeting,” he said.

He said many people predicted that the pandemic would’ve ended quickly. However, people who are more familiar with COVID-19, he said, wouldn’t be able to make any prediction of its end. He added that today’s challenge is eradicating COVID-19 and then making developments in law post-COVID-19. Nevertheless, it is near impossible that the pandemic will end anytime soon. Despite optimistic non-mask policy in New Zealand and Australia, he said, debates on COVID-19 are still ongoing in other countries, including the US.

“We inevitably must find ways to coexist with [COVID-19]. However, despite all that, our focus is how to prepare for legal developments post-COVID-19. There will inevitably be may changes in the future,” he stressed.

Justice Saldi believes that post-COVID-19, legal developments remains faithful to the foundation of state life. The law is created to protect the entire nation. To achieve the goals of the state within the 1945 Constitution, new legal designs are required as the old ones haven’t accommodated the issues of today.

The impacts of the pandemic are much more serious than that of the economic crisis of 1997-1998. Today we are facing so much more than economic issues.

Link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/TGQ9arYtksU

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 6/21/2021 13:16 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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