Deregulation and debureaucratisation through omnibus legislation: developmentalist rationality and delegated lawmaking in Indonesia

This article examines the use of omnibus legislation as an instrument of deregulation and debureaucratisation within Indonesia’s New Developmentalist agenda. The Job Creation Law was enacted to address obstacles to investment, industrialisation, and economic growth. Although promoted as a major regulatory reform, questions remain as to whether the omnibus method has effectively achieved its deregulatory objectives. This article employs a doctrinal and legislative studies approach, drawing on the Job Creation Law, its Academic Paper (Naskah Akademik), implementing regulations, and relevant scholarship on developmentalism and legislative reform. Epistemologically, it adopts an interpretive approach that treats legislation as an expression of policy rationality and state strategy. Particular attention is given to how deregulation and debureaucratisation are articulated and institutionalised through the omnibus method. The findings demonstrate that deregulation and debureaucratisation in the Job Creation Law cannot be understood merely as technical legal reforms. Rather, they reflect a developmentalist rationality that positions law as an instrument for accelerating economic development. Although the omnibus method facilitates legislative consolidation by enabling simultaneous amendments to numerous statutes, it does not necessarily produce genuine regulatory simplification. Instead, simplification at the statutory level is accompanied by a substantial expansion of delegated legislation through government, presidential, and ministerial regulations. As a result, regulatory complexity is not eliminated but relocated to the executive sphere, strengthening executive norm-making authority while reducing opportunities for substantive parliamentary scrutiny. This article argues that the omnibus method functions not only as a legislative technique but also as a mechanism of developmentalist governance. The Indonesian experience reveals a structural tension between the promise of deregulation and the continued expansion of regulatory authority, demonstrating that the effectiveness of omnibus legislation ultimately depends on broader institutional and governance conditions.