Should Jinayah Training be Held for Religious Court Judges?

Jakarta l Badilag.net

The title is a question proposed in Forum Pembaca Badilag.net, on Thursday (05/01/2012), as a simple poll to grasp the opinions from the Religious Court people.

Badilag needs to catch the opinion, because jinayah training so far is almost nothing in comparison with other trainings, such as Islamic economics, mediation, and so on.

Broadly speaking, there were two opinions arose. A small part of the respondents considered the training would be less necessary, while the majority supported the idea for training on jinayah, either in substantive or in formal law.

For Mazharuddin, a Religious Court officer in North Sumatera, the training is less important. He argued that jinayah as a theory has been extensively studied in Faculty of Sharia in all Islamic universities around the country, despite the fact that as a practical framework it is still marginalized. Mazharuddin even questioned if there would be a discourse on jinayah training, what the urgency seemed to be right now.

. However, most of respondents suggested either Badilag or Education and Training Institution for Legal and Justice System (Balitbang Kumdil) provide training as well as technical assistance regarding jinayah issues.

"Based on my experience dealing with legal cases in Aceh, jinayah case is not an easy matter to resolve. Theory and practice are often opposite," said Dwi Husna Sari, a judge from Mahkamah Syar’iyah in Bireun.

In line with Husna, Muh. Anwar Saleh, a Religious Court judge who serves in South Sulawesi, suggested that jinayah training should not be only intended for Mahkamah Syar’iyah judges, but also for Religious Court judges in general.

"The training is absolutely needed for all Mahkamah Syar’iyah judges as well as Religious Court judges across the country. Perhaps, someday if Religious Court judges gain such a promotion to serve in Mahkamah Syar’iyah in Aceh, they will have enough skill to handle such jinayah cases,” said Anwar.

Eko Budiono, a judge from North Jakarta Religious Court, supported the argument. For him, the training is very important, because he must be prepared if he will be assigned in Aceh or even appointed as a supreme court justice some day.

Ahmad Zaky, a judge candidate who serves in Yogyakarta jurisdiction has a similar opinion. According to Zaky, the training is important to enrich knowledge. He admitted that up to several days he had got some courses related to jinayah issues.

A bit different statement delivered by Amrin Salim, though essentially he was not against the idea of jinayah training. The Judge who serves in a Religious Court in Riau highlighted the existing training which in his opinion should be improved before conducting further training. So, what is your opinion?

(Shofa’u Qolbi)