Judges of Religious Courts Must Increase Professionalism in Judging Sharia Economic Cases

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, at the Madani Hotel, Medan City, the Medan Religious High Court  (PTA Medan) conducted training for leaders, judges, and clerks of the Religious Courts in the PTA Medan area. Dr. Drs. H. Amran Suadi, S.H., M.Hum., M.M., Chairman of the Religious Chamber of the Supreme Court (Tuaka Agama), who also acted as speaker, when opening the event asked Religious Court judges to increase professionalism in adjudicating sharia economic cases.

The Religious Tuaka provided guidance throughout the PTA Medan area along with the groundbreaking activity for the Tahfiz al-Firdausi Qasimi As-Suadi House building on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. Mr. Amran said the construction of the Tahfiz House was a form of the Supreme Court's active participation in the intellectual life of the nation, because most of its donors come from Indonesian judicial families.

“The handling of simple case lawsuits in sharia economic cases refers to Supreme Court Regulation Number 2 of 2015 concerning Procedures for Settlement of Simple Lawsuits which has been amended by Supreme Court Regulation Number 4 of 2019. This Supreme Court policy supports national government programs in realizing ease of doing business”,he said.

There are a number of norms in PERMA Number 2 of 2015 which have been changed by PERMA Number 4 of 2019. First, the increase in the material value of the lawsuit from 200 million rupiah to 500 million rupiah. And second, the abolition of the domicile limit, the plaintiff can sue the defendant who is outside the plaintiff's area of ​​residence by appointing a proxy who is in the defendant's residence area.

In addition, the plaintiff can file a simple lawsuit electronically. The defendant may file a verzet legal action against the decision made by the panel of judges without the presence of the defendant (verstek). The judge may place a confiscation of collateral at the request of the plaintiff. And finally, the determination of the period of punishment (reprimand) in the request for execution is 7 days, Amran Suadi said in his explanation.

Dirbinganis Badilag Launches Bogor Smart Court

Representing the Director-General of the Religious Courts of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia, the Director of Technical Development for Religious Courts, (Dirbinganis) Dr. H. Chandra Boy Seroza, S.Ag., M.Ag. launched the Bogor Smart Court, Thursday (29/10/2021), at the Bogor Religious Court building.

"We welcome and give the highest appreciation to the Bogor Religious Court which has developed the Bogor Smart Court," he said.

Bogor Smart Court is the mother of all innovations developed by Bogor Religious Court. The public can access it through smartcourt.pa-bogor.go.id.

There are a total of 10 innovations based on the Smart Court, namely Self Court, Mandiri Online Lawsuit, PTSP Online, SEMPUR Mobile, Drive Thru, Deprosah, One Day Divorce Certificate, New PTSP, Smart Archive, and Judicial Service Education.

Chandra Boys Seroza stated that all these innovations were an answer to various judicial service problems, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic.

A positive response was also delivered by the Chief of Bandung Religious High Court, Dr. H. Burhanuddin Muhammad, S.H., M.H. He hopes that this innovation can be implemented properly.

"Do not let, after launching, these applications are not used properly," he said.

Director General of Religious Courts Strengthens Cooperation With Saudi Arabia

On September 30, 2021, Monday, at 10.00 WIB at the Director's room of the Islamic and Arabic College of Indonesia (LIPIA), which is located on Jl. Warung Buncit Raya No.15 Ragunan, South Jakarta, Dr.Drs. H.Aco Nur, S.H., M.H. The Director General of Religious Court, MA RI accompanied by Dr.H Chandra Boy Seroza, S.Ag., M.Ag, Director of Technical Development for Religious Court Personnel and Abu Jahid Darso Atmojo, LC., LL.M., Ph.D. The Judicial Judge of the Directorate General paid a visit to the educational institution and was greeted directly by Sheikh Dr. Omar Hamad Swidan.

Dr. Omar Hamad Swidan was very happy and gave his appreciation to the Badilag delegation led by the Director General to visit LIPIA with the aim of strengthening cooperation between the judiciary and Saudi Arabian educational institutions in order to improve the human resources of the religious courts in Indonesia.

Aco Nur started his conversation by expressing his gratitude for all the support from the Saudi Arabian government in improving the quality of human resources for judges of religious courts by giving the opportunity to attend training at the Higher Judicial Institute Riyadh.

Currently, there are 5 batches participating in sharia economics education and training at the Riyadh judiciary high school. Each batch consists of 40 participants from Religious Court Judges. This program is held in collaboration between Badilag and Imam Muhammad Ibn Suud University in Saudi Arabia which has been running for quite a long time.

“This time, there are many institutions, both domestic and foreign, that are collaborating with Badilag in order to improve the quality of human resources in order to provide services for justice seekers”, said Aco Nur.

In order to realize a modern world-class religious court and excellent service, reliable human resources are needed in various ways, especially judges must have Arabic and English language skills, like it or not, law enforcers must be able to follow the pace of technological development.

At the end of the visit, Aco Nur invited both parties to cooperate according to their respective needs and committed to exchange experiences, information regarding religious courts in Indonesia, and to close the meeting between Badilag and LIPIA Aco Nur handed over souvenirs as a sign of brotherhood. (aj/ahb)

Review Completed, Book II Approved Immediately

Guidelines for the Implementation of Duties and Administration of Religious Courts, well known as Book II, has so far been used as a reference by judges, non-judge technical personnel, and administrators at the Religious Courts in the management, administration, and trial of cases. Book II is enforced based on Chief Justice Decree Number KMA/032/SK/IV/2006 dated April 4, 2006.

Book II is a guideline for judges and other judicial apparatus in carrying out their duties related to administration and trial of cases. In its development, Book II has undergone several revisions due to changes in provisions and needs in practice. The last amendment to Book II that was implemented was the Revised Edition of 2014. Since then, until 2021, Book II has never been revised, while the regulations regarding administration and trial of cases have undergone significant changes.

In response to this, the Directorate General of the Religious Courts a Book II Review. This review activity began in early 2020 by involving the Assistants of the Supreme Court Justices of the Religious Affairs Chamber and Judicial Judges of the Directorate General of Religious Court.

The review in 2020 began with the collection of materials for each section in the previous edition of Book II. The Internal team at the Directorate General of Religious Courts identified the need for reform of administrative norms and case trials, which were carried out, among others, by gathering input from Religious Courts throughout Indonesia. The results of the initial work were then reviewed together with the Assistant of Supreme Court Justices which then produced an initial draft which would be reviewed collectively by the Review Team which was later formed by the Director General of the Religious Courts.

The first review of the initial draft of the revised Book II was held at the Mirah Hotel, Bogor, the event was opened directly by the Director General of the Religious Courts, Dr. Drs. H. Aco Nur, S.H., M.H.. In his remarks, the Director General said that Book II which is currently used as a reference in the administration and handling of cases in the Religious Courts does not yet cover the latest regulations related to administration and case handling.

The most important things that have not been regulated include electronic administration and trial (e-court); Implementation of the Case Tracking System (SIPP), Handling of marriage dispensation cases based on PERMA Number 5 of 2019; Administration and trial of jinayat (Islamic criminal) cases at the Sharia Court; Guidelines for handling execution and solving execution problems; Administration and trial of sharia economic cases with a simple lawsuit; and Provisions regarding sharia arbitration. (ahb)