Providing Justice to the Justice Seeker: A Report on the Access and Equity Study in the Indonesian General and Religious Courts 2007–2009

Summary of publication

This access and equity study in family law and birth certificate cases was undertaken in Indonesia during 2007–09. The aims of the study were to:

provide the Supreme Court of Indonesia with empirical data on the quality of service provided to court users by the General and Religious Courts in the area of family law
ascertain whether there are sections of the community, particularly those living under the Indonesian poverty line, who are unable or unwilling to access the services of the Religious and General Courts for their divorce and birth certificate cases and, if so, to identify the reasons why
consider strategic policy responses (both financial and organisational) that the Supreme Court should consider in order to provide universal access to the Religious and General Courts for people living below the poverty line or in remote communities.

This report provides the key research findings of the study, which were:

there is a high satisfaction rate amongst court users
divorce cases now form the single largest group of cases in the Indonesian judicial system, comprising 50 per cent of all cases
women bring twice as many divorce cases to the courts as men, and in nine out of ten cases they are successful
the poor cannot access the courts
88 per cent of female heads of households surveyed, living under or close to the Indonesian poverty line, would be more motivated to obtain a legal divorce if the court's fees were waived
high transportation costs are a barrier to accessing the court especially for the rural poor who live a greater distance from the courts
transparency of court fees is needed and overestimation of court fee down-payment is a disincentive
clients want to receive a copy of the written court judgment on the day it is read out in court
efficient allocation of judicial and court staff resources is needed
there is a cycle of non-legal marriage and divorce and lack of birth certificates for children
divorce through courts provides legal certainty
there is a low understanding of legal requirements for divorce in Indonesia.

Last Updated: 12 August 2013