The Indonesian President has highlighted the problem of illegal logging and has issued an instruction (Presidential Instruction No. 4 of 2005) that directs the leaders of 18 government bodies to cooperate and coordinate to eradicate illegal logging. The document provides specific instructions on a range of measures that agencies

should take to pursue this objective. The Presidential Instruction resulted from a process initiated in 2004 to create a draft special law (i.e., a “regulation in lieu of law” or “peraturan penganti undang-ungang,” known in Indonesia as a PERPU).2 The Presidential Instruction is an important statement of GOI commitment, but as a legal product it is lower than the Forestry Law and the Criminal Law in Indonesia’s legal hierarchy and cannot, therefore, include any legislative amendments or contradict these higher laws. The Indonesian President has now called upon the Parliament and the MOFR to rectify this situation by drawing up a special law on illegal logging
and illegal timber trade. This special law should strengthen the legal framework for prosecuting