There are at least three distinct branches of legal professionals in Indonesia. They are the notaries, advocates and legal consultants. A notary (notaris) is a legally trained semi-public official appointed by the Department of Justice & Human Rights (Departemen Kehakiman dan Hak Asasi Manusia) to notarise deeds (akta). The semi-public nature of a notary’s office arises because he is a government appointee who, at the same time, conducts a private professional notary practice.

A notarised deed, also called an authentic deed (akta otentik) is a formal deed prepared by and executed before a notary. At law, some legal documents require notarised deeds. Notarisation verifies that the deed is properly executed by the parties and, at law, the deed is conclusive proof on the matters to which it refers. To establish a company, for example, requires the assistance of a notary since the deed of establishment (akta pendirian) must be executed in his presence.

Since a notary is a government appointee, he does not provide legal advice to parties appearing before him. The parties to a transaction should have obtained independent legal advice and agreed upon the matters contained in the deed prior to appearing before the notary. In this way, the notary acts as a neutral party who prepares, witnesses and authenticates documents, and subsequently archives the signed original in his office. At present there are about 140 notaries throughout Jakarta. Parties are free to engage any notary they desire to authenticate their documents. Many notarial fees are charged in accordance to a scale issued by the Department of Justice & Human Rights although the fees for some matters are negotiable.

Advocates (pengacara) are lawyers in private practice with formal legal training. They are the Indonesian equivalent of attorneys in the United States and barristers and solicitors in England. Many advocates focus on litigation although others also provide general legal advice. Due to the limited size of many of their practices, advocates in smaller firms may not have sufficient expertise to provide commercial law advice on international business transactions.

Legal consultants (konsultan hukum) began to emerge as a distinct group of legal professionals in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when foreign investors started to venture into Indonesia in significant numbers. Most of them are also advocates although they tend to refrain from accepting litigation cases. Many legal consultants have completed advanced legal training overseas and prefer to specialise in providing legal advice and documentation for corporate, commercial, banking and cross-border matters.