The Indonesian Business, Law and Society (IBLS) program is a semester program, based in Yogyakarta at Indonesia’s oldest private university, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII). As part of the IBLS program, students have the option to undertake a professional placement (internship) with leading Indonesian institutions and NGO’s in the fields of business, economics, law and society.

For semester 46 (February 2018), ACICIS welcomed one student, Demi Thackrah from Murdoch University on the IBLS program. Demi who received a New Colombo Plan Mobility Program grant, chose to undertake a professional placement (internship) with LKBH UII (Lembaga Konsultasi dan Bantuan Hukum), UII’s legal aid organisation. LKBH UII facilitates legal assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation or access to the court system and provides legal education to local communities.

During her placement with LKBH UII, Demi was assigned to observe consultations with clients, to attend court sessions at Pengadilan Negeri (District Court) and Pengadilan Agama (Religious Court), to assist in mediation sessions and to draft legal instruments. Demi was also tasked with a research project focusing on analysing Indonesian law, through a comparative study of Indonesian and Australian legal systems.

After completing her internship, Demi presented her research project in front of the assessors from UII, LKBH UII and ACICIS representatives. For her research project, Demi chose the topic of “Challenges to the Implementation of the Right to Legal Aid in Indonesia.”

Congratulations to Demi! We are all very proud of you and thank you for a wonderful semester. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours!