7.1 Which law(s) apply to arbitration in Indonesia?

Arbitration has been recognized, and applied, as a formal means of dispute resolution in Indonesia since the mid-nineteenth century. However, until late 1999 there was no specific law governing arbitration and for over 150 years all arbitrations were regulated under a handful of provisions of the mid-19th Century Dutch Code of Civil Procedure, the Reglement op de Rechtsvordering (generally known as the “RV”),1 while the substantive basis for the ability of the parties to agree to arbitrate was to be found in the general freedom of contract provisions of the Indonesian Civil Code,2 also taken from the Dutch. After years in the drafting, on 12 August 1999, Indonesia finally promulgated its new comprehensive Law concerning Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution, Law No. 30 of 1999 (the “Arbitration Law”), superseding those articles of the RV covering arbitration.