Modern Indonesian legislation come in a number of forms. The variety in categories and sources of legislation is a big hurdle for foreigners seeking to understand Indonesian law. In an effort to clarify the status of various types of legislation, in August 2000 the MPR issued the following official hierarchy of legislation:

• 1945 Constitution (Undang-Undang Dasar 1945)
• MPR Resolution (Ketetapan MPR)
• Law (Undang-undang)
• Government Regulation Substituting a Law (Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-undang)
• Government Regulation (Peraturan Pemerintah)
• Presidential Decree (Keputusan Presiden)
• Regional Regulation (Peraturan Daerah)

In practice, there are other legislative instruments in current use. They include Presidential Instructions (Instruksi Presiden), Ministerial Decrees (Keputusan Menteri) and Circular Letters (Surat Edaran). Unfortunately, at times there are inconsistencies between specific legislative instruments.

Once promulgated, legislation is published in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia (Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia). Certain types of legislation such as Laws and Government Regulations are accompanied by an official explanatory memorandum called the Elucidation (Penjelasan). The Elucidation is published in the Supplement to the State Gazette (Tambahan Lembaran Negara) and is generally authoritative for purposes of interpretation. In addition to the State Gazette, there is a sister publication called the State Report (Berita Negara) which contains government and public notices.