39 General Courts will provide Posbakum in 2012

Jakarta| Badilag.net (26/09/2011)

Change for Justice (C4J) of USAID held a workshop on the implementation of the Circular Letter of the Supreme Court No. 10/2010, at Mercure Hotel, Ancol (22-23/09/2011). This activity was attended by 39 chiefs of the General Courts and 8 chiefs of the Religious Courts.

There were some speakers including H. Atja Sondjaja, SH (Deputy Chief Justice for Civil Case), Prof. Rehngena Purba, SH., MS (Justice), Dr. H. Cicut Sutiarso, SH, M. Hum (Director General of the General Courts), Drs. H. Wahyu Widiana, MA (Director General of the Religious Courts), Nani Zulminarni (Women Headed Households-PEKKA), Santi Kusumaningrum (member of the Workgroup of the Supreme Court) and Cholidul Azhar, SH. M.Hum (Chief of the Religious Court of Surabaya).

It is planned that there will be 39 General Courts providing Legal Aid Post (known as Posbakum) in 2012.

Since March of 2011, the Legal Aid Post has been implemented in 46 Religious Courts. There are more than 16,000 people enjoying the service.

 

.

This workshop was aimed to encourage the implementation of Posbakum in 39 General Courts for the next year. 8 chiefs from the Religious Courts who were invited in this workshop shared their experiences on Posbakum.

 

According to the Director General of the Religious Courts, Wahyu Widiana, legal aid in the Religious Courts which consists of circuit court, waiving court fees (prodeo cases) and legal aid post (Posbakum) has been implemented long time ago. The Religious Courts often hold circuit court in so many remote areas.

In a survey conducted by LDF in 2007, it is found that most of users of the Religious Courts are poor. They faced some obstacles related to transportation cost, remote distance to the courts and court fees.

Wahyu Widiana suggested that all chiefs of the Religious Court understand the Circular Letter very well.  Some chiefs look to have very different opinions on the implementation of the Posbakum.

(rahmat arijaya)