Legal action of marriage in Indonesia in general is
subject to Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage (“Marriage Law”). For a Muslim,
provisions under the Compilation of Muslim Laws (Kompilasi Hukum Islam) should also be observed. Furthermore, the
Law on Religious Court (Undang-Undang
tentang Peradilan Agama) applies.
A wife may file for a lawsuit for a divorce with the
Religious Court (Pengadilan Agama) having jurisdiction over the domicile of the
said wife/Plaintiff. In many cases, divorces were filed on the ground of “continuous
quarrel” (“pertengkaran terus-menerus”)
with reference to point (f) of the Explanation of Article 39 paragraph 2 of the
Marriage Law.
Commonly there are 4 ultimate petitions claimed by a
wife under the lawsuit:
1) Divorce
2) Child custody
3) Monthly expenses for the child custodian
4)
Allocation of “Gono Gini assets” (“Gono
Gini assets” shall mean husband and wife’s common assets collected during the marriage).
On the first trial, the Court will assign a
mediation judge (hakim mediasi) to
reconcile the disputing husband and wife. If no reconciliation could be
achieved, the judge will schedule the next trial.
In general, trials will be scheduled every one or
two weeks, with the agenda as follows:
-
Response of the
Defendant against the lawsuit brought by the Plaintiff (so called Jawaban).
-
Further response by the
Plaintiff (so called Replik).
-
Further response by the
Defendant (so called Duplik).
-
Submission of Evidences
by the Plaintiff.
-
Witnesses by the Plaintiff.
-
Submission of Evidences
by the Defendant.
-
Witnesses by the
Defendant.
-
Appointment of Hakam.
-
Statement of the child
with the age of 12 years old or older.
-
Conclusion.
-
Reading out of the Verdict.
For a civil servant (pegawai negeri sipil), a divorce should be with the permission (ijin) or support letter (surat keterangan) from the supervisor (atasan). In the case where a civil
servant being a Defendant on his/her purpose does not notify his/her superior
about the lawsuit, in practice, after sufficient time given to the Defendant
for obtaining support letter but no result shown by the Defendant, the trials
will proceed eventhough without permission or support letter from the superior
of such Defendant.
Said, Sudiro & Partners
Indonesian Attorneys at Law
Sampoerna Strategic Square
South Tower, Level 18
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 45 - 46
Jakarta 12930 Indonesia
Phone: (62-21) 575.0983
Fax: (62-21) 575.0803
Emails: mail@ssplegal.com
