Critical law reviewers view that not only deviation in law enforcement occurs in Indonesia, but also the substance potentially causes negative impact on people’s lives. This is due to the formation of law in Indonesia that is swept away by "modernity trap", where the law is built by modern social value if it is desired to be the driving force for progress. On the other hand, the law must be "weaned" from the traditional social values because it is considered as a barrier to the progress of the nation.
That was delivered by Prof. Dr. Nurhasan Ismail, S.H, M. Si, in the Senate Hall, Monday (12/12) when being inaugurated as Professor of Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada. His speech entitled "Prismatic Law: Need for Pluralistic Society: Early Thought", an agrarian law professor of Undergraduate and Graduate Programs of UGM Faculty of Law said that legal formers in Indonesia are actually based on the simplification of political thought amidst the reluctance and inability of legal formers in explaining diversity of existing social and legal values in society into the substance of state law. The legal former places itself as a versatile actor who knows everything but by doing "legal transplant" from developed countries without going through conformance test.
It is depicted that modern law in developed nations is like a beautiful girl who is made a mistress to pursue economic improvement or political democratization. However, behind the "pretty face" there is the spirit of manipulation and injustice that result in negative impacts on economic, social and political sectors. Conversely, customary law with social values is viewed as an "old granny" who need not be touched anymore as they are nearing the grave. "Yet behind the “oldness” there is wisdom and justice to historically ensure equal distribution of resources to the community," he explained.
Nurhasan said that if it is not wanted that Indonesian law become a driving instrument of the occurrence of poverty, the closure of access for vulnerable groups, the gap in ownership of available resources, and structural conflicts, the political change of law development seems to be inevitable by basing on the diversity of Indonesian society. A community is characterized by different groups with different social values, namely the traditional and modern, or between both of them as behavioral guidelines. Besides, there are differences in ability level of different groups to adapt to social, economic and political conditions that are being aspired together. There are also differences in orientation among the interests of different groups, namely between individual and collective groups with different consequences of struggles over access and resources.
Therefore, by basing on the reality of Indonesian pluralism, Nurhasan viewed that politics of legal development should be based on a combination of the principles derived from modern social values and traditional or local knowledge selectively. "To quote Riggs, the law of character as such is labeled as ‘prismatic law’," said the man born on June 14, 1955 in Madura.
Theoretical base for the development of this prismatic law, according to Nurhasan, refers to the concept of responsive law as put forward by Philippe Noner and Philip Selznick and concepts of reflective and substantive law as stated by Gunther Teubner, who assessed the development of the law is not traditional, from linear-repressive towards modern-autonomous. This is because autonomous modern law still gives place to wisdom values and tolerance of traditional law in order to make law function effectively in realizing justice for all groups. "The use of wisdom and tolerance values is then drafted by the responsive or reflective law and substantive law," he said.