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Judicial System of Indonesia

The judicial power in Indonesia is regulated under Section 24 of the
Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (1945) (hereinafter ‘the 1945 Constitution’)
which stipulates that the judiciary power shall be implemented by Supreme Court and
a Constitutional Court. In addition to that, Section 24 B (1) of the 1945 Constitution
also stipulates the presence of a Judicial Commission which is independent in nature,
and have authority to nominate appointment of Supreme Court Justices and have other
authorities in order to safeguard and uphold the honour, dignity and conduct of
judges.
Article 24 C of the 1945 Constitution provides that the Constitutional Court
has the authority to constitutionally review a law that may be contrary to the
Constitution; settle disputes among government institutions; dissolve political parties;
and settle election disputes. The court system itself is founded upon four pillars,
namely, the general court, religious court, state administrative court and military court
according to Section 24(2) of the 1945 Constitution.
The Court of General Jurisdiction have authority over general criminal and
civil matters for general people, including family law for non-moslem people.
Especially in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, criminal matters belong to Mahkamah
Syari’ah or religious court, which in other regions only have authority over civil
matters.
Under the court of general jurisdiction, specialized courts were established,
namely, Commercial Court, Anti-Corruption Court, Fisheries Court, Human Rights
Court and Industrial Relation Court.
The Commercial Court sits in 5 locations, and have jurisdiction over
bankruptcy and Intellectual Property Cases.
The existence of Corruption Court in Indonesia is established through Law
No. 46 the year 2009 on Corruption Court. The Anti-Corruption Court sits in district
court in every capital of provinces, and have jurisdiction over criminal act of
corruption.
The Fisheries Court have authority over criminal act of fisheries and sits in
total of 10 courts.
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A Human Rights Court is a special court within the context of a Court of

general jurisdiction. The Human Rights Court have authority to hear gross violation
of human rights and sits in the Capital City.
In addition to that, there is also Tax Court with authority to hear and decide
cases over appeal to the decision made by Tax Office on Tax dispute, Tax Office sits
in the Capital City. Section 2 of Act No. 14 of 2002 states that "The Tax Court is a
judicial body that carries out judicial authority for taxpayers or tax insurers who
seek justice against Tax Disputes".
The Religious Court have the authority over family dispute for moslem
citizens, which include dispute over divorce, inheritance, and custody. Later,
according to Act Number 21 Year 2008 on Syari’ah Banking, the authority of the
Religious Court has been further expanded to also handle economic syari’ah cases.
The State Administrative Court have the authority to hear disputes arising in
the field of state administrative between individual or legal entity against agency or
State Administrative Officials, either in central or in region as result of the issuance of
State Administrative Decision, including dispute on employment of civil servant in
accordance with applicable regulations.
Crimes committed by members of the armed forces are heard before the
Military Court.
Each court jurisdiction consists of first instance and appellate court. Court of
First Instance sits in every capital of city/regency, while appellate court sits in the
capital of provinces, except for the state administrative court which have broader
jurisdiction.