Protection of public interests in the administration of legal metrology in Medan

Abstract

As a metropolitan city, Medan has several advantages that support the trading activities. However, these advantages must be underpinned by legal certainty in conducting trade transactions. Measuring instruments serves as the prominent equipment in building mutual trust in business relationships. The instruments are regulated in Law Number 2 of 1981 concerning Legal Metrology (LLM). This study is legal research using a normative legal method. The data were collected from literature and were analyzed qualitatively. The results reveal several problems in the administration of legal metrology. Limited budget, lack of calibration officers, lack of support from local policies in the implementation of services, and insufficient facilities and infrastructure are the current circumstances in almost all regions including Medan. Such condition occurs because of the incomplete issues of competency in the field of legal metrology between the central and local governments after regional autonomy implementation. In conclusion, the overlapping authority between the central and local government resulted in a non-optimal administration of legal metrology in the regions. A synergy between the centralized LLM and decentralized Law Number 32 of 2014 concerning Local Government is needed. Thus protection will be achieved in the application of legal metrology services.