Law Reform as the Part of National Resilience: Discovering Hindu and Pancasila Values in Indonesia’s Legal Development Plan

Abstract

The Indonesian legal system encountered several challenges due to corruption, inherited colonial compendiums/codifications, ineffective and inefficient arrangements, and a complex bureaucratic structure that occasionally contradicted the Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and common legal requirements. Majapahit’s success story demonstrates that reforming Hindu law following legal requirements and conditions or society’s demands effectively strengthens their national resilience. The purpose of this paper is to identify and reintroduce the successful history of Majapahit and their national resilience as a result of Hindu law, as well as its connections to the current Indonesian legal system, in the context of national law reform as a component of national resilience. Based on the normative legal research conducted for this paper, a concept was proposed to reintroduce and implement Hindu values into the national legal system consistent with Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution’s Preamble, and current legal needs. It should be created based on a shared belief that national resilience can be defended if Indonesia’s legal system is reformed; this can be accomplished if lawmakers consider the values of Hindu and other religions, adat law, and diverse conditions that are still compatible with Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.