Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia received study visit from the leadership of Faculty of Law, Universitas Wahid Hasyim, Semarang on Friday, 3 August 2019. The visit was about to receive more information about the journal management and study program character from Faculty of Law UII. “We understand well that UII especially the Law School produces so many outstanding alumni. Our leadership also graduated from UII. The journal of Ius Quia Iustum also recognized as Sinta with Rank S2. As well as the study program also already accredited by the AUN-QA. Thus, as a new university, we would like to visit our almamater and also to get more information on how UII is so developed in relations with the publication and the study program.” said Dr. Mastur, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Wahid Hasyim, Semarang.

“We are also very proud to receive and to acknowledge that most of the leadership management, including vice dean and the dean, are also alumni of UII.” replied Hanafi Amrani, PhD acting as Dean of the Faculty of Law UII. The discussion was started with an explanation from the study program presented by Dr. Budi Agus Riswandi.

The event was attended both the leadership from Faculty of Law, Universitas Wahid Hasyim, Semarang and the Faculty of Law UII. The session was ended with the exchange of token appreciation from both the law school Deans.

People with disabilities (PwDs) and special needs have been disproportionately affected by the deterioration in living conditions in the Gaza Strip since March 2017. This situation is driven by a worsening energy crisis, which has resulted in outages of 18-20 hours a day, and an exacerbation of the salary crisis in the public sector, both of which are linked to an escalation in internal Palestinian divisions. The Palestinian Ministry of Social Development estimates that over 49,000 individuals in the Gaza Strip (or 2.4 per cent of the population) suffer from some type of disability, a third of them children. More than 1,100 of these people, including about 300 children, became disabled as a result of injuries incurred during the 2014 hostilities, including approximately 100 amputees.

Responding to that issue, on Wednesday, 22nd of May 2019, Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia collaborated with National Center of Community Rehabilitation (NCCR) Palestine conducting guest lecture concerning the “Diplomatic Relations between Republic of Indonesia and Palestine”. The event which was held in the multipurpose room invited Fatma A. Al Ghussain as the NCCR director as a speaker in this occasion. As a moderator, Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto S.H., M.H., LL.M., Ph.D, gave an introduction regarding the brief profile of the NCCR and the current situation in Gaza. In this guest lecture, Fatma explained that there were many victims who suffered from disability because of the attacks carried out by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people, “we need to know that all of these victims are not only Muslims but Christians, Catholics and Jews” she said.

During the event, the participants seemed enthusiastic and gave their attention to the latest issues that occurred in Palestine. Many of the participants asked questions regarding the efforts made by the NCCR and also related to the Palestinian situation, especially the latest gaza. The event was closed with the hand-over of souvenirs from the moderator to the speaker.

On Monday, March 18 2019 at the Main Meeting Room (3rd floor) of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between the Faculty of Law Universitas Islam Indonesia (FH UII) and Center for International Language and Cultural Studies Universitas Islam Indonesia (Cilacs UII). There were two MoAs signed on this occasion, which were concerning to the English Matriculation Program and CEPT Preparation. The two programs are designed as new model for the bridging program for International Program Students.

“The English Matriculation Program is address to even semester students of the 2018/2019 academic year International Program, Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Furthermore, for the CEPT Preparation Program is designed for students of 5th (fifth) semester of International Programs, Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia. We do not have common consensus with the International Office of UII to continue the program as they do not want to customise with our new curriculum. Some of the substances are having similarities with the current curriculum – this is part of the reason for us to introduce the new program for the international program.” said Dr. Budi Agus Riswandi, S.H., M.Hum.

The event was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Law UII, Head of Study program of the FH UII, Secretary Study Program of the International Program and the head of Cilacs UII. In his remarks, Dr. Abdul Jamil SH, MH, as Dean of the Faculty of Law UII, said that “Hopefully this MoA can bring better benefits to students who hope our students will not only be competent in law practice but also have good ability of English in order to expand coverage of his career to the international level. We do hope also that this program could be implemented for the regular program students.”. Furthermore, this event was followed by a speech delivered by Director of Cilacs UII. “Basically, legal English with English in general is different. Because legal English has several terms that are not possessed in English in general, therefore through this program, we hope that it can improve the ability of students in understanding of legal english”, she said.

The event was closed with an exchange of souvenirs from the Faculty of Law UII and Cilacs UII. May through this program the level of English language proficiency of UII Law Faculty students can be develop and able to answer global competition.

Student at International Program, Undergraduate of Law Study Program, Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia just won the first place for the Outstanding Student Selection (Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi) at Higher Education Unit Service Region 5 Yogyakarta (Lembaga Layanan Pendidikan Tinggi). After going through several assessments from the Jury/Panel such as Interview which was conducted in English and also Presented the paper that has been made by each competitor. He successfully presented his paper with the topic of The Obligation of Ecolabel Certification and Innovation in the Voluntary Ecolabel Policy as Alternative to create Responsible Consumption and Production. Previously, Alif also won the first place for the same competition at the university level (in the scope of Universitas Islam Indonesia Students). During the competition, he supervised by Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto, S.H., M.H., L.LM., Ph.D. The paper talks upon the Ideas on how to achieve Responsible Consumption and Production one of the Sustainable Development Goals. The competition was held at LLDIKTI building on Tuesday, 19th of March 2019.

This event was attended by 14 Private University in the scope of Higher Education Unit Service Region 5 Yogyakarta. Each student has their own ideas in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. “Alhamdulillah, today the selection process and the announcement of the Outstanding Student Selection has been conducted, which was attended by great students from these 14 universities. This reward becoming a new responsibility for me in order to bring the good name of Universitas Islam Indonesia in the future. I need the support and also prayers from all UII academics in order to face the next level of this Outstanding Student Selection and for sure, hope for the best according to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala” Alif Said.

After the announcement, Alif immediately met with Ms. Hazhira Qudsyi from the academic affairs to discuss the next strategy in facing the Outstanding Student Selection at the national level.

LIMUN (London International Model United Nations) is an annual event of LIMUN Foundation which consist for more than 2500 delegation from all over the world. Located in cosmopolitan city of United Kingdom, it spend almost 3 days in facilitating intensive debate among the delegates. This year as the 20th edition of LIMUN was held on 22-24 February 2019. The participants acted as state representative of members in UN (United Nations) and was given the chance to represent that state in a council with analysing and formal debate about international issues. As the delegates of particular state, they have their own stances to resolve the issues, negotiate their state interest and then form best solution for the international issues.

Ardya Syafhana is one of the official delegates of Universitas Islam Indonesia which have been selected as the best representation and passed several selection (Administration, interview and speech assessment also simulation test). She was chosen as the person who got highest score and defeat other 25 applicants and was assumed had consistently worked hard and improve her skills to join LIMUN. She joined SPECPOL or (Special Political and Decolonisation Committee) of General Assembly and represented State of Peru. This Council discussed the topic “Belt and Road Initiative – Addressing Concerns of ‘Recolonisation’ “. In the Committee session, Hana or Delegation of Peru argued its perspective about BRI (Belt and Road Initiatives) as an opportunity and foreign policy and it can help the world economic development but did not eliminated several issues which appeared from such China’s Foreign Policy.

The main issues was then raised in how China give loans to some states but such states were not able to pay the debt back. In rectifying their absence of payment, they give China possession over vital public facility like port and military bases. It also covers the problem of collapsing project of BRI in infrastructure sectors. Peru believes that those states must have been considered all the risk and condition so that they finally agreed on the project, so the issue of “Recolonisation” can’t be connected with BRI and it is necessary for the partners to pay the debt and fulfil their performances. The Committee session was closed by adopting Draft Resolution of China and allies (includes Peru).The Document consist of the conclusion of discussion and several solutions and it used the formal form of United Nations Resolutions.LIMUN 2019 gave not only certificate but also prestigious chances for the participants to communicate beyond different culture and nationality. Depending on the knowledge, experience and networks they have been taken from LIMUN, participants were expected as the next generation of world leaders which will be equipped with the ability to deal with global issues in the spirit of cooperation

March 12, 2019, at the Main Session Room, Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia, UII’s Faculty of Law’s held a Guest Lecture on the topic “Sport as a catalyst for Social change: Aiming for the real gold”. The event was led by Ginanjar Gailea S.Pd., M.A. as the moderator invited Monsieur Arnaud Amouroux as the speaker in this Guest Lecture.

A former United Nations staff, with 12 years’ experience in the field of peacekeeping, peacebuilding and conflict resolution, Mr. Amouroux explained that sport can be ‘more than just a game’ and introduced the concept of ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP). Sport can serve as a ‘low-cost and high impact tool for social change’. Sport has the unique ability to transcend differences, connect people and elevate/inspire them. The presentation also addressed the recognition by the United Nations of sport as an important ‘enabler of sustainable development’, especially with regard to SDG 3 on Health, SDG 4 on Education and SDG 5 regarding Gender equality. Mr. Amouroux specifically referred to 4 domains where Indonesia could use sport-based approaches to tackle some of the challenges the country is faced with: need to invest in disaster risk reduction and preparedness; fostering tolerance and living-together; fighting sedentary and unhealthy behaviours and promoting open, safe and inclusive spaces as part of urban regeneration initiatives.

Mr. Amouroux also made a comparative review of the 1962 and 2018 Asian Games held in Indonesia noting the tangible and intangible legacies of each event. The successful organisation of the 2018 Asian Games is testimony to Indonesia’s ability to host even larger mega-sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, however this would require a fully integrated sustainability strategy within the candidacy proposal (i.e. focusing on generating social benefits for the communities after the event as well).

The lecture ended with a question and answer session given by UII Faculty of Law students, participants were actively involved in this session. One of them is the question raised by Rangga, “Changes in the times that have occurred at this time have affected changes in social activities carried out by children, particularly who used to be active in carrying out social activities through sports and gatherings but now they use their gadget or handphone to socialize. How does the government see this incident? “He concluded. Finally, the event was closed with the handed over of token of appreciation by Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto S.H., M.H., LL.M., P.hD as Secretary of the International Program of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Islam Indonesia to the speaker.

As part of an effort for the continuous improvement, the law school audited by the internal audit from the Waqf Foundation of Universitas Islam Indonesia (Yayasan Badan Wakaf). The audit is not only evaluating the working performance of the law school in the past 2018 year but also the financial audit. The whole expenditure of the 2018 budget also evaluated by the internal auditor.

The audit process started on Tuesday, 5th of March 2019 and ended on Wednesday 6th of March 2019. All units audited by the internal auditor was the Dean Leadership, Division of Financial Management Administration, Undergraduate Study Program, Postgraduate Study Program of Law, Public Notary Study Program, Doctoral Study Program of Law, Advocate Profession Unit, Centre for Legal Training and Education, and International Program. Those all units were successfully followed the audit process with the average performance percentage 85%. The International Program performance has the highest percentage of working performance from all the units (98%).

“Based on the audit result, we received some notes from the auditor. Mostly about the incomplete documents to support the accountability of the use of certain budget. Fortunately, we could share the supporting documents. With this condition, we need to improve our administration process.” said the Dean.

English Courses for Batch 2 and 3 just finished last week on Friday, 1 March 2019. There were around 50 participants that took part in the courses. The courses started in early January 2019. “Participants were enthusiastic and they did a great job. I am really proud of their progress. Now, our law school has supporting staffs with their English capability to support their daily job.” said Christopher Cason, the course tutor.

At the closing ceremony, the Vice Dean for Resource Management (Hanafi Amrani, SH, MH, LLM, PhD) said in his speech “as the representative of the leadership, we would like to congratulate for all the participants. Please remember two things: do not forget and do not hesitate. Do not forget the things that you learned from the course. Do not hesitate to practice English in our daily activities. We do hope that this English course will provide more benefit for all participants as well as for the law school.”

As part of the internationalization of the law school, the basic understanding of English is important for supporting staffs because they are the key to our academic services. The law school itself had already visited by the AUN-QA assessors to get certified at the regional level.

Law Study Program Undergraduate Degree at the Faculty of Law UII in 2019 has carried out the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) certification. The agenda was held for 3 days from 7-9 Jumadil Akhirah 1440 H / 12-14 February 2019 with various agendas in it. Furthermore, the AUN-QA visitation agenda series begins with the opening (Opening Ceremony) on Tuesday, 7 Jumadil akhirah 1440/12 February 2019 in the UII library’s Audiovisual room which is opened directly by the Rector. In addition to the Undergraduate Study Program of Law, there are other study programs which are also held by AUN-QA visitation, namely Industrial Engineering Study Program, Study Program of Economics and Psychology.

Dean of Faculty of Law UII, Dr. Abdul Jamil, S.H., M.H said that the preparation for the AUN-QA has been going on for a long time, since 2016 which began with the 2017 KKNI-based curriculum implementation and continued with the preparation of international certification grant proposals through the University Quality Assurance Board. “Renovations and additions to infrastructure that support academic activities in the Faculty of Law and others have also been prepared for one year ago,” he said.

Dr. Budi Agus Riswandi, S.H., M. Hum as the Chair of the Faculty of Law’s undergraduate study program, said that the assessor appointed for the Law Study program at the Faculty of Law was Prof. Dr. Aleth Theresa L. Decanay and Associate Prof. Dr. Ornsiri Cheunsuang. “Allhamdulillah, we have constructive input, especially regarding the development of the 2017 KKNI curriculum, and for other inputs that can be considered related to campus internationalization such as increasing the number of foreign students, increasing the number of foreign teaching staff, developing International Programs and activities with regional and international tertiary institutions . “We are also advised that other activities can be more realized and improved, especially in terms of research, lecturer exchanges and community service. In addition, the assessors also appreciated the positive feedback from students, alumni and other ‘stakeholders, “he added. “Furthermore, we would like to thank all those who have worked hard and contributed to this 2019 FH AUN-QA visitation”, he concluded.

Furthermore, the AUN-QA Accreditation Visitation series was closed on Thursday, 9 Jumadil Akhirah 1440 H / 14 February 2019 by the Rector and was attended by the rector leadership, as well as representatives of each study program.

Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 (BISC 2019) is an annual routine activity held by the BIR Program where the BIR program is a Bachelor of Political Science Program in Politics and International Relations (English Program) which aims to give priority to high-quality education comparable to international standards. Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 is also one of the activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Faculty Political of Science Thammasat University.

Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 takes the theme of Democracy. This is based on a growing issue in Thailand regarding whether Thailand will have its own democracy through a general election process which is currently being warmed up because many parties want it to be realized. Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 took the theme “Redefining Democracy: The New Battleground?”. Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 has been successfully held on January 21-22, 2019. Pradana Satya Aji Kusuma is one of the delegates at the Bangkok International Student Conference 2019. The selection process from Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 is through paper writing selection. After passing the paper selection, the participants who passed immediately became delegates. However, in BISC 2019 there are 4 Conference panels which include Social Media Influences on Electoral Campaign, Voter Education: Stakes over the First Time Voters, Democracy and Economic Development, and Democracy and Populism. Of the four panels, each panel has only 3-4 speakers. Determination of who will be the speaker will be selected by lecturers from the organizing committee based on the paper that passed the delegation selection.

Pradana Satya Aji Kusuma was successfully selected as the speaker in panel 4 entitled Social Media Influences on Electoral Campaign. In the panel Pradana Satya Aji Kusuma talked about the influence of social media on the 2019 election campaign in Indonesia. In the panel there are 2 lecturers as commentators namely Dr. Peera Charoenvattananukul and Dr. Wasin Punthong. Both are lecturers at the Political of science Faculty, Thammasat University. This BISC 2019 has 2 main activities namely the International Conference and Public Forum entitled “Youth Engagement in Politics”. The two events were attended by almost all Asian students and several African countries. However, in the Public Forum, the speakers were from the elite of political parties in Thailand.

Academician Asst.Professor Jittipat Poonkham gave award certificates to delegates who were successfully selected as speakers of the four panels in the International Conference and held a closing ceremony on January 22, 2019. Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 was very extraordinary. As students, we can learn and exchange knowledge about the democracy system and what problems are being faced by their respective countries. In addition, it also trains soft skills from students to be able to make international-standard papers and also to test the ability of participants to speak publicly in international scale competitions. Bangkok International Student Conference left wonderful memories especially for the delegates. The author hopes that events like this will continue to be routinely held every year to produce quality and useful young people for the nation and the State.