Indonesian Commercial Court renders its first decision following the appeal procedure changes for competition cases

28 April 2021

On 4 March 2021, the Commercial Court division of the Central Jakarta District Court upheld a decision of the Indonesian Competition Commission (Komisi Pengawas Persaingan Usaha or “KPPU”) in an objection filed by PT Conch South Kalimantan Cement (Conch) regarding Case No. 03/KPPU-L/2020 (“Cement Case”). The case concerned a violation of Article 20 of Law No. 5 of 1999 on the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition.

The Cement Case marked the first decision handed down by the Commercial Court following an appeal against a KPPU decision after the enactment of Law No. 11 of 2020 on Job Creation (popularly referred to as the Omnibus Law), a law that recently introduced many important changes to a wide variety of laws to boost domestic growth and investment, and Government Regulation No. 44 of 2021 on the Implementation of the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition (“New Competition Regulation”).

Before the Omnibus Law was passed, an objection to a KPPU decision had to be filed with the relevant district court, not the Commercial Court. Under the Omnibus Law and New Competition Regulation, the Commercial Court, which specialises in commercial disputes (including bankruptcy and intellectual property disputes) has expanded its jurisdiction to include appeals in competition cases.

This is an extract of an article by Soemadipradja & Taher, Allen & Gledhill’s associate firm in Indonesia. To read the full article from the Soemadipradja & Taher website www.soemath.com, please click here.