Tim Lindsey is leading expert on Indonesian law, and has advised governments, business, international organisations, courts and legal practitioners around the world, giving expert evidence in many courts and tribunals. He is Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the Melbourne Law School. He holds a Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Letters from the University of Melbourne and completed his PhD thesis in Indonesian studies. A fluent Indonesian speaker, he is a specialist in a wide range of aspects of Indonesian law, including public law, citizenship law, criminal law, commercial law, inheritance, and family law. He has won teaching awards and has previously practised as barrister. His more than 100 publications include Indonesia: Law and Society; Islam, Law and the State in Southeast Asia (three volumes); The Indonesian Constitution; Drugs Law and Practice in Southeast Asia; Religion, Law and Intolerance in Indonesia; Strangers Next Door: Indonesia and Australia in the Asian Century; Crime and Punishment in Indonesia; Indonesian Law; and The Routledge Handbook of Indonesian Law (in press, 2026) He is a founder and an executive editor of The Australian Journal of Asian Law and the Indonesia at Melbourne website.
All areas of Indonesian law, including, among others, criminal, family (marriage and divorce), inheritance, citizenship, contract, immigration, corruption, and public law, customary law, Islamic law etc.
I have submitted more than 30 expert opinions on a wide range of aspects of Indonesian law, from criminal to family (marriage and divorce), inheritance, citizenship, contract, immigration, corruption, and public law, among others.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
Butt, S. and Lindsey, T., (2018) Routledge Handbook of Indonesian Law, Routledge: London (in press, 2026)
Lindsey, T., and Helen Pausacker (eds) (2021), Crime and Punishment in Indonesia, Routledge: London
Butt, S. and Lindsey, T., (2018) Indonesian Law, Oxford University Press: Oxford
Lindsey, T, and Pausacker, H, (eds) (2016), Religion, Law and, Intolerance in Indonesia, Routledge, London
Lindsey, T, and Nicholson, P (2016) Drugs Law and Practice in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam, Hart, Oxford
Lindsey, T. (2012), Islam, Law and the State in Southeast Asia: Vol. I, Indonesia I.B. Tauris: London
Lindsey, T. and Butt, S. (2012), The Indonesian Constitution: A Contextual Analysis, Hart Publishing: Oxford
Sumner, C., and Lindsey, T. (2010), Courting Reform: Indonesia’s Islamic Courts and Justice for the Poor, Lowy Institute, Sydney*
Lindsey, T. (2008), (editor and contributor), Indonesia: Law & Society, Federation Press, Sydney (2nd and fully revised edition) “The most authoritative modern text in the English language on Indonesian law and society today” (Australian International Law Journal)
Lindsey, T., Damian, E., Butt, S. and Utomo, T.S. (2002), Hukum Kekayaan Intelektual Indonesia: Suatu Pengantar, (Intellectual Property Law in Indonesia: An Introduction), PT Alumni: Bandung - cited as authority in three decisions of the Indonesian Mahkamah Agung or Supreme Court
Lindsey, T. (editor and contributor) (2000), Indonesia: Bankruptcy & the Commercial Court, Desert Pea Press: Armadale, New South Wales
BOOK CHAPTERS
Lindsey, Tim and Simon Butt, ‘Pluralism, Religion and Family Law in Indonesia’, in Henry Kha and Mark Henaghan (eds) Family Law and Religion: Global Perspectives. Routledge, in press 2026
Lindsey, Tim Simon Butt and Antony Crockett, ‘Corruption and Illegality in Asian Investment Disputes: Indonesia’, in Teramua, N., Nottage, L., Jetin, B. (eds) Corruption and Illegality in Asian Investment Disputes: Asian in Transition, Springer, Singapore, 2023
Lindsey, Tim and Simon Butt, ‘The Legislatures of Indonesia'’, in Po Jen Yap and Rehan Abeyratne (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Asian Parliaments, Routledge: London, 2023
Lindsey, Tim and Simon Butt, ‘Financial Law in Indonesia’, in Douglas W. Arner, Wai Yee Wan, Andrew Godwin, Wei Shen, Evan Gibson (eds) Research Handbook of Asian Financial Law, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham 2020.
Lindsey, Tim (2019), ‘The Legal Framework for the Regulation of Minorities in Indonesia’, in Greg Fealy and Ronit Ricci (eds) Contentious Belonging: Minorities in Indonesia, ISEAS: Singapore.
Lindsey T (2018), ‘The more things change …Islamisation, Law and the Indonesian Courts’, in Robert Hefner, Routledge Handbook of Indonesia, London: Routledge
Lindsey, T. and Simon Butt (2016), ‘State Power to Restrict Religious Freedom: An overview of the Legal Framework’, in Tim Lindsey and Helen Pausacker (eds) Religion, Law and Intolerance in Indonesia, Routledge: Oxford.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Lindsey, Tim, Lindsey Samira, Guinean, Ricky, Humaidia, Aisya and Kowal, Sarah (2023), ‘In Limbo: Sakak bin Jamal, the Death Penalty and Criminal Injustice in Indonesia’ (Vo.24, No. 1, 47-67). Australian Journal of Asian Law.
Butt, Simon and Lindsey, Timothy (2022), ‘Indonesian Private International Law’ (March 1, 2022). Australian Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 22, No. 1, Article 9: 119-121
Hosen, Nadirsyah, Jeremy J. Kingsley and Tim Lindsey (2021), ‘Lost in Translation: Indonesian Language Requirements and the Validity of Contracts’, The University of Queensland Law Journal
Butt, Simon and Lindsey, Tim (2020), ‘Liability for the Death of Aircraft Passengers in Indonesia’, Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Vol. 85 (4) (Fall, 2020)
Lindsey, Tim (2018), ‘Filling the Hole in Indonesia’s Constitutional System: Constitutional Courts and the Review of Regulations in a Split Jurisdiction’, Constitutional Review, Vol 4, No. 1, May 2018, pp. 27-44.
Lindsey, Tim and Crouch, Melissa (2014), ‘Indonesia Cause Lawyers: A House Divided’, in Wisconsin Journal of International Law, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 619-644
Lindsey, T., ‘Monopolising Islam? The Indonesian Ulama Council and State Regulation of the ‘Islamic Economy’, in Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Vol 48 (2), pp. 253-274 (2012)
Lindsey, T. (2012) ‘Between Piety and Prudence: State Syariah and the Regulation of Islamic Banking in Indonesia’, University of Sydney Law Review, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp 107-128
Sumner, C. and Lindsey, T. (2011) Courting Reform: ‘Indonesia’s Islamic courts and justice for the poor’, InternationalJournal for Court Administration, Vol 4, No. 1, December, pp 1 - 14