TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno remembered the late senior diplomat and maritime law expert Hasjim Djalal. He stated that Indonesia no longer has a maritime law expert of his caliber and experience.
"There is no one who can match him," said Deputy Foreign Minister Arif when met at a seminar titled 'Uniting the Archipelago, Inspiring the World' which discussed the late Hasjim Djalal at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) office, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday, February 25, 2025.
Arif argued that there are two types of maritime law experts. First, those who were involved in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) negotiations in 1982. Second, those who studied outside of the negotiations.
According to Arif, many Indonesian legal experts have studied maritime law outside the UNCLOS negotiations. They, Arif emphasized, chose to become practitioners or academics at universities.
On the other hand, Arif also mentioned that few legal experts were truly involved in the UNCLOS negotiations in Montego Bay, Jamaica on December 6, 1982. Apart from Hasjim Djalal, Arif mentioned one of the key figures in the negotiations was the maritime law expert from Padjadjaran University and former Minister of Justice, Mochtar Kusumaatmadja.
"The others have all passed away," he said.
Hasjim Djalal, a senior diplomat and recognized maritime law expert from Indonesia, passed away at the age of 90 in Jakarta on Sunday, January 12, 2025. Hasjim Djalal took his last breath at 16:40 WIB and was surrounded by his wife, children, grandchildren, and siblings.
Hasjim Djalal's second son is also a diplomat and former Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Indonesia, Dino Patti Djalal.
Hasjim had a distinguished career and was also known as a pioneer of Indonesian diplomacy who was able to elevate the country's image in the eyes of the world. He served as the Indonesian Ambassador to the United Nations from 1981 to 1983.
Then, from 1983 to 1985, he dedicated himself as the Indonesian Ambassador to Canada, and from 1990 to 1993, he was the Indonesian Ambassador to Germany. Hasjim was known as one of the Indonesian diplomats who played a role in the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was ratified in 1982.
According to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Hasjim Djalal, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia at that time, Mochtar Kusumaatmadja, advocated the idea of an archipelagic state and a maritime nation, as mandated by the Juanda Declaration, to be recognized by the international community.
Throughout his life, Hasjim Djalal produced many works through book launches and dedicated himself to Indonesia. He wrote the books Indonesian Struggle for the Law of the Sea (1979), Indonesia and the Law of the Sea (1995), and Preventive Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Lessons Learned (2003).
After retiring, he continued to actively write books and articles in various media and became a speaker at various forums on international maritime law issues. His son, Dino Patti Djalal, has followed in his father's footsteps as an outstanding diplomat, serving as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States since 2010.
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