Attorney Day in Indonesia Date in the current year: July 22, 2024

President Sukarno established the office of the Attorney General on August 19, 1945, two days after Indonesia’s independence. The country’s first Attorney General was Gatot Taroenamihardja. He was tasked, among other things, with coordinating the Indonesian National Police during the Indonesian National Revolution.

Following the dissolution of the Djuanda Cabinet in 1959, Sukarno decided to remove the office of the Attorney General from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice in order to give the Attorney General a wider discretion. The corresponding law was passed on July 22, 1960. Since then, the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office has been a cabinet-level standalone institution reporting directly to the President.

The Attorney General’s Office is the competent authority advising the Indonesian government on legal matters. The Attorney General, appointed by the President and approved by the People’s Representative Council, represents the government in the Supreme Court of Indonesia and is an official in the Cabinet of Ministers. The Attorney General’s Office is responsible for executing the orders of the Supreme Court, whereas the Ministry of Law and Human Rights focuses on more technical matters.

The Attorney General of Indonesia is also the Solicitor General, meaning that he has the authority to represent the executive branch before the Supreme Court, determining the legal position that the government will take in the Supreme Court in cases in which the government is a party or has a significant interest. In many countries, the Solicitor General is appointed by the Attorney General, but in Indonesia, they are the same person.

In 2010, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia determined the Attorney General’s term of office to be concurrent with the term of office of the President. Thus, the President of Indonesia appoints the Attorney General after inauguration, and their respective terms end at the same time. If the President is re-elected for a second term, he can appoint a new Attorney General.

The Attorney General’s Office of Indonesia includes 27 provincial prosecutor’s offices and almost 300 district prosecutor’s offices. Their principal function is to examine charges and then either to dismiss them or refer them for trial to the court. Prosecutor’s offices are also responsible for presenting cases against accused in court, as well as supervising persons serving a suspended sentence, placed under supervision or released on parole. In addition, they may be entrusted with investigating certain categories of crimes.

Attorney Day was created in 1961, a year after the Attorney General’s Office became a standalone institution. Celebrated annually on July 22, is the professional holiday of all people employed by the office of the Attorney General of Indonesia at all its levels.