The Regulatory Status Analysis for Updating the Public Legal Awareness on Human Rights in Indonesia

Abstract

In this study, it is argued that quantitative empirical legal research can support understanding public legal awareness of the implementation of human rights protection in Indonesia. The public legal awareness is analyzed using the Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling to provide flexibility for exploring the link of the ideals of human rights law with elements of the legal system as research variables. This research is a literature study on the importance and use of empirical quantitative research methods through the establishment of a path model called Regulatory Status Analysis. The model positions legal ideals (justice, certainty, and expediency) as an independent variable; while the two elements of the legal system: substantive law and legal structure, are mediating variables. Based on the trial run, the path model can picture the relationship between ideal law and legal culture as the dependent variable in the form of public awareness to comply with legal norms that protect human rights. Substantive law also has a positive influence on awareness to obey the law. However, the legal structure has no influence, either directly or indirectly. It might be because respondents consider law enforcement against human rights violations less than optimal. The test result determines what kind of human rights legal system should be developed for national and global legal scholarship.

Keywords

• empirical legal research
• public legal awareness
• legal ideals
• legal system
• path model