Universalization of Indonesian cultural and scientific regulations

Indonesia ratified the agreement on the establishment of the World Trade Organization, including its annex agreement, the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 1995. The alignment of Indonesian Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) with that of the WTO’s TRIPS has been made easy owing to shared universal human principles that emanated from the country's constitution that was established at the time of independence. Consequently, Indonesia has transformed its legal system to be in sync with the United Nations Bill of Rights. While the WTO's TRIPS Agreement focused heavily on IPRs to which Indonesia’s contribution by way of filings has been low, Indonesia offers other countries lessons in the more subtle area of public order and morality. Community-based IPRs have emerged as a new area of interest in international fora, which has led to the recognition of traditional sources of knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and intangible cultural heritage. It is in this context that the Ten Principles of Bandung on cultural equality is examined to provide an illuminating account of how the harmonization of universal IPRs can help promote cultural equality for the benefit of society globally. The Five Principles of Indonesia’s constitution evolved to recognize the diversity generated from around 1300 indigenous communities in Indonesia. This paper provides an elucidating account of interventions to protect public order and morality using the examples of the Buddha Bar case, the Tropic Effect and the Wayang Golek statues. The manner in which the Indonesian government acted to protect public order and morality offers an incisive narrative towards strengthening universal regulations on cultural equality.