Indonesia

The Supreme Court of Indonesia

According to Article 24 of 1945 Constitution, the judiciary power in Indonesia shall be carried out by Supreme Court and a Constitutional Court.

 

The Supreme Court of Indonesia as stipulated by Law Number 5 Year 2004 on the Amendment of Law Number 15 Year 1985 on the Supreme Court, gave the following functions:[1]

  1. Judicial function, as the implementer of judicial power, as the apex of judiciary which hear and decide upon the cassation cases to develop consistency in implementation of the law as well as to hear and decide upon the special review over a final and binding court decision.
  2. Judicial Review function, to review whether a legislation under the level of Law is inconsistent with senior level legislation.
  3. Advisory function, to provide advice or consideration to other High State Agency, and to the President in order to grant or reject clemency request.
  4. Supervisory function, to conduct the ultimate supervision function to the implementation of judiciary and to the conduct of court officer.
  5. Regulating function, to regulate matters necessary for the proper implementation of the court function in the case where there are matters not sufficiently regulated by Laws and establish necessary regulation to fill in the gap within the procedural law.
  6. Administrative function, to regulate and establish policies in the field of organization and work procedure, formulate technical administrative policies and implement the management of state-owned assets.

 

It sits in the capital city of the country and according to the Law, Supreme Court can have up to 60 justices, however, at present, there are 51 Justices sits in the Supreme Court in addition to 16 Ad Hoc Justices.[2]

 

The Supreme Court coordinates some 352 court of first instance and 30 appellate court under court of general jurisdiction, 359 court of first instance and 29 appellate court under Religious Court, 28 court of first instance and 4 appellate court under State Administrative Jurisdiction and 19 court of first instance under military court jurisdiction and 1 special court and 1 appellate military court. Supreme Court also supervise no less than 30,551 court officials which consist of 8,273 judges, 3,070 acting registrars, 8,664 bailiffs and 9,342 court staff.[3]

 

Each court jurisdiction is supervised and managed by Directorate General, which consist of Directorate General of General Court Body (https://badilum.mahkamahagung.go.id),  Directorate General of Religious Court Body (https://badilag.mahkamahagung.go.id/) Directorate General of Military and State Administrative Court Body (https://ditjenmiltun.mahkamahagung.go.id/)

 

Chamber System

 

In order to maintain the consistency, improve the professionalism of the Judges, and to ensure timeliness, since 2012 the Supreme Court of Indonesia establishes the chamber system with the following composition:

  • Criminal Chamber
  • Civil Chamber
  • Religious Chamber
  • Military Chamber
  • State Administrative Chamber

 

The Civil Chamber shall have jurisdiction to hear cassation and special review appeal on civil matter, including those which are originating from commercial courts.

Commercial Court

The Commercial Court was established firstly in 1998 under the Bankruptcy and Suspension of Payment Law (Law No. 4/1998). Currently, apart from its basic authority to examine Bankruptcy cases, the commercial court also has authority over Intellectual Property disputes (trademarks, patents, copyrights, industrial designs) and bank liquidation disputes (Law Number 24 Year 2004 on Savings and Guarantee Institutions). Further, the court the Law Number 11 of 2021 on Job Creation, add more jurisdiction to the Commercial Court to also examine objections to the decision of the Anti-Monopoly Commission.

There are currently 5 Commercial Courts established in Indonesia, (Presidential Decree 75 Year 1999), which includes the Commercial Court at the Central Jakarta District Court, the Commercial Court at the Medan District Court, the Commercial Court at the Semarang District Court, the Commercial Court at the Surabaya District Court and the Commercial Court at Makassar District Court.

The Commercial Courts in Indonesia is a special court in the civil jurisdiction which was established to handle complex commercial cases with specially trained judges and strict procedures. Judges who sit at the Commercial Court who must first be certified to handle special commercial cases. With regard to procedures, all cases handled by the commercial court are subject to a strict time period, and the available legal remedies are direct cassation to the Supreme Court, without going through an appeal to the appellate court, to ensure a better timeliness.

 

[1] M Hatta Ali, Peradilan Sederhana Cepat & Biaya Ringan Menuju Keadilan Restoratif, Alumni, Bandung, 2012, h. 13-15.

[2] Consist of 8 Ad Hoc Cassation Anti-Corruption Court Judges and 8 Ad Hoc Cassation Industrial Relation Judges, Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia, Annual Report 2021, Supreme Court, Jakarta.

[3] Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia, Annual Report 2016