Indonesian Military Court Law Absolute Competence through Equality before the Law Principle

Law Number 31 Year 1997 regulates the jurisdiction of the Indonesian Military Court to handle military members who commit a general crime and military crime based on the Indonesian Penal Code and Indonesian Military Code respectively. However, the General Court also retains jurisdiction over the military members who commit a general crime based on the Indonesian Penal Code. In comparison, Indonesian Civilians who commit a general crime based on the Indonesian Penal Code are only under the General Court. This condition is against the principle of equality before the law as stated in Article 28D.1 of the 1945 Constitution. Indonesia as a state of law must hold this principle. Authors use normative legal research to solve the law issues by reviewing the related laws and the law principles in Indonesia.

Destruction of Towns and of Institutions Devoted to Religion, Education, Science and Art, as Punitive Measures

With the possible exception of the violation of Belgian neutrality, no acts have provoked wider criticism than the burning of Louvain with its university, its cathedral, its library, including its books, manuscripts and scientific collections, the partial destruction of the cathedrals of Rhcims and Soissons, the alleged “massacre” at Aerschot, the “sacking” of Senlis, including the partial destruction of its cathedral, and the “atrocities” at Linsmeau, Termonde and Orsmael. The British Prime Minister, in his Guildhall speech of September 4th, characterized the burning of Louvain as “the greatest crime committed against civilization and culture since the Thirty Years War—a shameless holocaust of irreparable treasures lit up by blind barbarian vengeance.” Sir Frederick Pollock also declared that “it exceeded in horror and calculated wickedness any military crime committed since the Thirty Years War.” The London Times denounced it as “an atrocious act without a parallel even in the Dark Ages and one which would turn the hands of every civilized nation against the Germans.” These expressions fairly represent the opinion of the English and, to a large degree, the American public in regard to the character of the act.