INDONESIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Emir Nurmansyah, Theodoor Bakker, Ulyarta Naibaho and Adithya Lesmana, ABNR Counsellors at Law
In 2025, in PT Mahkota Sentosa Utama v China Light Industry, et al , the CJDC held that an arbitral award that is in contravention of a court decision certifying the restructuring of a company is deemed to be in violation of Indonesian public policy. 13. Miscellaneous 13.1 Class Action or Group Arbitration Law No 8 of 1999 on consumer protection provides for the possibility of class action arbitration or group arbitration, particularly for issues relating to consum - er protection administered by the Consumer Dispute Settlement Agency (BPSK). The specific requirements for a class action are that the group of people must be the consumers affected and that they share the same interests in the claim. However, both consumers and producers must consent for their dispute to be settled by arbitration, and must sign an arbitration agreement. The requirements for a class action claim are further elaborated in Supreme Court Regulation No 1 of 2002 on Class Action Claims. The claim must share the same factual background and the same substantial legal basis, and there must be a similar type of claim between the representatives of the class and the class themselves. 13.2 Ethical Codes If counsel to one of the parties is an Indonesian advo - cate, the Indonesian Code of Ethics for Advocates issued by the Indonesian Bar Association (PERADI) will apply. In addition, in cross-border arbitrations, the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration and IBA Guidelines on Party Representa - tion in International Arbitration provide guidance to counsel, arbitrators and arbitration institutions. For arbitrators, there are no professional standards that apply nationwide; each domestic arbitration body, such as BANI, has its own code of ethics applicable to its respective arbitrators. BANI’s ethics codes share the following requirements for arbitrators:
• to be impartial and independent; • to keep all information obtained through arbitration proceedings confidential; • to refrain from seeking publicity from arbitration cases adjudged; • to adjudge cases based on the law and principles of equity and fairness; and • a prohibition on accepting gifts or promises from the disputing parties. 13.3 Third-Party Funding Indonesian law is silent on the issue of third-party fund - ing for litigation or arbitration proceedings. Practition - ers have discussed the benefits of third-party funding, observing that it could provide greater access to jus - tice, create a level playing field and eliminate all or part of the costs of arbitration for corporations. However, third-party funding is currently neither permitted nor prohibited in Indonesia. In practice, arbitration with third-party funding is still uncommon in Indonesia. 13.4 Consolidation The Arbitration Law is silent on how to consolidate separate arbitration proceedings. However, Article 9 of the 2025 BANI Rules provides that arbitration involving multiple parties can be consolidated if there is sufficient proof of the existence of a connection between the parties. Disputes arising out of or related to more than one agreement may be referred for arbi - tration in a single request, provided that there is a connection between the agreements and that BANI or the BANI Rules are chosen for the settlement of disputes by all agreements. 13.5 Binding of Third Parties Pursuant to the Arbitration Law, an arbitration agree - ment will only bind parties that have consented to be bound by it. Accordingly, third parties cannot be bound by an arbitration agreement unless they have given their consent to be so bound. An arbitration award will a bind third party if there is an element of interest involved, and the third party’s involvement is agreed to by all disputing parties and the arbitrators (see 5.5 Jurisdiction Over Third Parties ). BANI has reportedly administered only one case in which the disputing parties and arbitrators agreed that third parties could participate in the arbitral procedure.
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