The judicial power in Indonesia is regulated under article 24 of the Constitution which stipulates that the judiciary power shall be implemented by Supreme Court and a Constitutional Court. In addition to that, article 24 B (1) of the 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.
The court system itself is founded upon four pillars, namely, the general court, religious court, state administrative court and military court.
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,[1] and have jurisdiction over bankruptcy and Intellectual Property Cases.
The Anti Corruption Court sits in district court in every capital of provinces,[2] 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.[3]
The Human Rights Court have authority to hear gross violation of human rights and sits in the Capital City .[4]
In addition to that, according to Act Number 14 Year 2002 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.
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.
Sources :
[1] Through Presidential Decree Number 97 Year 1999 on the Establishment of Commercial Court in the District Court of Ujung Pandang, Medan, Surabaya and Semarang
[2] Law Number 46 Year 2009 on the Anti Corruption Court
[3] Law Number 31 Year 2004 on Fisheries
[4] Law Number 26 Year 2000 on Human Rights Court