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Associate Professor Simon Butt

Profile

Degrees

  • BA (Hons) LLB (Hons) ANU PhD Melbourne


Courses taught

  • Indonesian Law


Research interests:

  • Indonesian law generally, including constitutional, criminal, civil, human rights, commercial, Islamic and customary (adatlaw.
  • Comparative law – particularly transplanting legal norms between jurisdictions.


Brief biographical details

Current ARC Australian Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Member of Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney.

Prior to joining the faculty as Senior Lecturer, Simon worked as a consultant on the Indonesian legal system to the Australian government, the private sector and international organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). He has taught in over 70 law courses in Indonesia on a diverse range of topics, including intellectual property, Indonesian criminal law, Indonesian terrorism law and legislative drafting. He is fluent in Indonesian.

In 2008 Simon's thesis titled "Judicial review in Indonesia: between civil law and accountability? A study of constitutional court decisions 2003-2005" was awarded the University of Melbourne Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD Thesis.

Publications

Books | Book Chapters | Journal Articles | Monographs | Conference Papers and Presentations


Books

  • The Constitution of Indonesia: A Contextual Analysis, with Tim Lindsey, Hart Publishing: Oxford (2012)
  • Corruption and Law in Indonesia, Routledge: Abington, UK (2012)
  • Co-author and editor of: Tim Lindsey, Eddy Damian, Simon Butt, Tomi Suryo Utomo (eds), Hak Kekayaan Intelektual: Suatu Pengantar [Intellectual Property Rights: An Introduction], Alumni, Bandung (2002)

Book Chapters

  • ‘Brazil and Indonesia: REaDD+y or Not?’, with Garcia, B, Parsons, J & Stephens, T, in R Lyster, C MacKenzie & C McDermott (eds), Law, Tropical Forests and Carbon: The Case of REDD+, Cambridge University Press (forthcoming)
  • 'Unfinished Business: Law Reform, Governance and the Courts in Post-Soeharto Indonesia' in M Kunkler, & A Stepan (eds), Indonesia, Islam and Democratic Consolidation, Columbia University Press: US (forthcoming)
  • 'Foreign Investment in Indonesia: The Problem of Legal Uncertainty' in V Bath & L Nottage (eds), Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution Law and Practice in Asia, Routledge: London (2011) 112-134
  • 'Judicial Mafia: The Courts and State Illegality in Indonesia' with Tim Lindsey, in E Aspinall & G van Klinken (eds), The State and Illegality in Indonesia, KITLV Press: The Netherlands (2011) 189-216
  • 'Who Owns the Economy? Property Rights, Privatization, and the Indonesian Constitution: The Electricity Law Case' with Tim Lindsey, in A McHarg, B Barton, B Bradbrook & L Godden (eds), Property and the Law in Energy and Natural Resources, Oxford University Press: Oxford (2010) 236-254
  • 'The People's Prosperity? Indonesian Constitutional Interpretation, Economic Reform and Globalisation', with Tim Lindsey, in John Gillespie and Randall Perrenboom eds., Regulation in Asia: Pushing Back on Globalisation, RoutledgeCurzon: London (2009) 270-295
  • ‘Intellectual Property Law in Indonesia: A Problematic Legal Transplant’, in T Lindsey (ed), Indonesia: Law and Society, 2nd edition, Federation Press: Sydney (2008) 625-635
  • ‘Surat Sakti: the Decline of the Authority of Judicial Decisions in Indonesia’, in T Lindsey (ed), Indonesia: Law and Society, 2nd edition, Federation Press: Sydney (2008) 346-362
  • ‘Islam, Polygamy and Mixed Marriage in Indonesia’, in T Lindsey (ed), Indonesia: Law and Society, 2nd edition, Federation Press: Sydney (2008) 266-287
  • ‘Banishing judicial accountability? The Constitutional Court’s Decision in the Dispute Between the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission’, in Andrew MacIntyre and Ross McLeod (eds), Democracy and the Promise of Good Governance, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (2007) 178-200
  • ‘Intellectual property, civil law and the failure of law in Indonesia: can criminal enforcement of economic law work in developing countries?’ with Tim Lindsey, in T Lindsey (ed) Law Reform in Transitional and Developing States, Routledge: London (2006)
  • Intellectual Property Law Tab in: Doing Business in Indonesia, CCH: Singapore (2000-2004)

Journal Articles

Monographs

Conference Papers and Presentations

  • 'Foreign Investment in Indonesia: The Problem of Legal Uncertainty' presented at Investment in Asia Book and Sydney Law Review Project Paper Discussion Workshop, Sydney, 29 October, 2010
  • 'Making Law in Regional Parliaments' presented at Australia-Indonesia Governance Research Program conference, Jakata, 8 December 2009
  • 'Uncertainty Over Legal Entitlements to Land in Indonesia' presented at Resource Rights and Mechanisms to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation: the Indonesian Experience, Sydney, 30 November 2009
  • 'Legal Drafting and Decentralisation in Indonesia', seminar presentation to the University of Wollongong Law Faculty, Wollongong, 26 August 2009
  • 'Legal Implications of Regional Autonomy in Indonesia' presented at Rights, Regulation and Responsibility: Australian and Singaporean Perspectives Law Research Symposium, Sydney, 30-31 July 2009
  • 'Perda proliferation and central review in Indonesia' presented at Rights, Regulation and Responsibility: Australian and Singaporean Perspectives Law Research Symposium, Sydney, 30-31 July 2009
  • 'Regional Autonomy and Legal Chaos in Indonesia' presented at Indonesian Council Open Conference, Sydney, 17 July 2009
  • ‘The Indonesian Constitutional Court and Religious Freedom’, presented at International Seminar on Comparative Laws 2008: Towards Interaction and Convergence of Legal Systems, Faculty of Syariah and Law, Islamic Science University of Malaysia, 18-20 November 2008
  • ‘The Indonesian Judiciary in 2014’, Presented at The Future of Indonesia beyond 2014: Prospects and Challenges, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 3-4 November 2008
  • ‘The Softening of Constitutional Court Decisions: Problems and Paradoxes’, Presented at Indonesian Legal Reform Workshop, Melbourne Law School, 20 May 2008
  • ‘Polygamy Under Indonesian Law: Recent Research and Cases’, Presented at Indonesian law and Society Book Launch, Melbourne Law School, 6 May 2008
  • ‘Recent Indonesian constitutional court decisions on corruption’, Presented at Law Reform and Business Efficiency – China and Indonesia, Sydney University, 6 July 2007
  • ‘Learning from each other: Cooperation between national and regional/state governments and legislative drafters in Indonesia and Australia’, Presented at Making of Regional Legislation and the Power of Central Government to Repeal Regional Legislation, Aryaduta Hotel, Jakarta, 24 November 2006
  • ‘Banishing Judicial Accountability? The Constitutional Court's Decision in the Dispute between the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission’, Presented at the Indonesia Update, Australian National University, Canberra, 22-23 September 2006

Associations

  • NAATI accredited Indonesian translator.