sharia-based laws 151
3.4 Achieving Better Justice: In What Cases and How? Legal
Assistance and Better Service
Women’s centres have helped Indonesian women to become more aware
of their legal position. Funded by and cooperating with national and
foreign donors, these centres provide advocacy to society. In addition,
the Ministry of Religious Affairs has, since 2006, run a special Course
on Islamic Legal Knowledge for Brides and Grooms (Kursus Calon
Pengantin/Suscatin) held at the Offices of Religious Affairs (Kantor
Urusan Agama). Significant and influential are the legal aid posts
(posbakum) operating since 2011 inside court buildings and run by
the government, and pekka (Perempuan Kepala Keluarga, Female Heads
of Households), an ngo supporting the empowerment of female heads of
households in respect of gaining their legal rights.³⁰ For example, since
its establishment in 2012, in its first four months of operation Cianjur’s
legal aid post provided legal assistance to more than 220 people,³¹ the
majority of whom were women seeking legal aid.
Apart from the increase in legal assistance, better services in court
also lead to greater access to justice for women. Supported by the
wider international community, including the Australian Family Court,
Indonesia’s religious courts are trying to develop their services. The
courts received an increased budget from the national treasury in 2008
and 2009 and, subsequently, have run ‘Prodeo’ (courts for the poor/fee
waivers) and ‘courts on circuit’ (sidang keliling) programmes, which are
largely aimed at helping poor women. ‘Prodeo’ services have been widely
and well utilised by women. In the ‘courts on circuit’ programme, judges
travel to remote areas to collect and hear cases. This programme was
initiated due to the fact that Indonesia has many remote areas where
transport is a problem, preventing people living there from coming
to court. In its annual report for 2012, the court of Cianjur reported
that between January and April it had heard 183 fee waiver (prodeo)
cases and 133 cases on circuit,³² including cases for divorce and marriage
legalisations. In addition, judges in the three courts are often lenient
about the hearing schedule, and are often willing to re-open day hearings
for late-comers.
Cate Sumner and Tim Lindsey,Courting Reform: Justice for the Poor(Lowy
Institute, 2010), 42–44.
‘Laporan Pelaksanaan Sidang Keliling, Prodeo dan Posbakum Tahun 2012 Bulan
Januari s/d April 2012’, Pengadilan Agama Cianjur. 8 May 2012.
‘Laporan Pelaksanaan Sidang Keliling, Prodeo dan Posbakum Tahun 2012 Bulan
Januari s/d April 2012’, Pengadilan Agama Cianjur, 8 May 2012.