A Comparison of Indonesia and Malaysia Legal Responses in Handling Covid-19
Bambang Antariksa (1), Yuliandri (2), Eddy Purnama (3), Faisal Akbar Nasution (4)

Universitas Sumatera Utara

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemic has become a global threat. The spread of the virus reaches Indonesia and Malaysia. The response to Covid-19 has been governed by Indonesia and Malaysia laws and legislation. Malaysia has been more successful in handling Covid-19 than Indonesia. This paper aimed at assessing why was the legal response of Malaysia more successful in handling COVID-19 than that of Indonesia? This research used a normative legal method. The results revealed that (1) Indonesia and Malaysia issued new laws and regulations, but Indonesia uses a health and disaster management approach, whereas Malaysia uses a health and law enforcement approach- (2) The structure for handling Covid-19 in Indonesia is performed by the Covid-19 Task Force, while Malaysia is carried out by The National Security Council- (3) Indonesia imposes large-scale social restrictions, whereas Malaysia enforces the Movement Control Order. This paper argues that Malaysia^s legal response through a health and law enforcement approach performed by The National Security Council has been more successful in reducing the number of victims and the spread of Covid-19. Indonesia can emulate Malaysia by using a law enforcement approach to dealing with Covid-19 in addition to a health and disaster management approach.

Keywords: Comparison, Indonesia, Malaysia, Covid-19

Topic: Governance and Anti-Corruption