Justice Sector in Indonesia

The Asia Foundation

works with universities

to provide a new

generation of law

school graduates with

the knowledge, skills,

opportunities, and

incentives to pursue a

career in public service

and contribute to

justice sector

reform efforts.

JUSTICE SECTOR INSTITUTIONS

For more than a decade, The Asia Foundation hasprovided technical assistance to the Supreme Courtand the Attorney General’s Office as they developedand implemented comprehensive reform programs.We have also worked to support the JudicialCommission, Constitutional Court, Human RightsCourt, Religious Courts Directorate, and WitnessProtection Agency on a range of reform agendas.The Foundation is now focusing on building thecapacity of the justice sector to prosecute corrup-tion-related crimes, through support to civil societyexperts who work in close partnership with theCorruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

LEGAL EDUCATION

Following the fall of Suharto, pressure has grown forthe next generation of judges, prosecutors, and pub-lic officials in Indonesia to be more reform-minded,better attuned to human rights and gender-baseddiscrimination, and inclined to take a more princi-pled approach to decision-making and combatingcorruption. The Asia Foundation’s Educating andEquipping Tomorrow’s Justice Reformers program(E2J) is partnering with university law schools, civilsociety organizations, and formal justice institutionsto provide a new generation with the knowledge,skills, opportunities, and incentives to pursue careersin public service and to contribute to justice sectorreform efforts. Through the E2J program, the

Foundation is implementing a variety of activities toencourage law students, particularly women law stu-dents, to pursue public service and academic careers.The program is supporting the law faculties of eightleading universities to develop clinics that offerhands-on experience in civil law, criminal law, anti-corruption law, and public legal education on envi-ronmental and women’s and children’s issues. Theclinics bring together law faculties with civil societyorganizations and local courts, providing a forumfor students to apply their theoretical knowledge ina practical setting. To further drive reform, the pro-gram is offering grants for professionals from lawschools and civil society organizations to collaborateon research on issues affecting the justice system.

GENDER JUSTICE IN RELIGIOUS COURTS

In addition to The Asia Foundation’s work with theSupreme Court, we are also providing support to the religious court system at the provincial level.Religious court judges are the primary legal inter-preters of Islamic family law issues, and they havegreat influence in determining issues related towomen’s rights and gender equality in Indonesia.Being able to fairly dispense justice on these issuesdepends not only on the laws, but also on theknowledge and perspectives of the individual judges.With support from the Foundation, the Women’sStudies Center (PSW) at the Sunun Kalijaga StateIslamic University in Yogyakarta works with the

The Asia Foundation's

law programs in

Indonesia cover all

sectors of the justice

sector: the Judiciary,

Attorney General’s

Office, National Police,

and the Department

of Corrections.

For over 45 years, The Asia Foundation has supported Indonesian efforts to strengthen legal institutions,improve legal education, and bolster justice sector reform. Working in partnership with government agencies, universities, and civil society organizations, the Foundation supports the development of an equitable and accountable justice system that is responsive to the needs of Indonesian people. TheFoundation’s programs focus on institutional development and strengthening across all components of thejustice sector: the Judiciary, Attorney General’s Office, National Police, and Department of Corrections.

INDONESIA

HEADQUARTERS465 California Street, 9th FloorSan Francisco, CA 94104 USATel: (415) 982-4640Fax: (415) 392-8863info@asiafound.org

WASHINGTON, DC1779 Massachusetts Ave., NWSuite 815Washington, D.C. 20036 USATel: (202) 588-9420Fax: (202) 588-9409info@asiafound-dc.org

INDONESIA PO BOX 6793 JKSRBJakarta 12067Tel: +62 21 7278 8424

www.asiafoundation.org

Department of Religion and the Director General ofReligious Courts to provide gender and children’srights training for judges across the country. PSWhas provided direct gender and children’s rightstraining to more than a quarter of the religiousjudges in the country, and it is now focusing onreaching judges in the Religious High Courts. TheFoundation’s work with PSW builds on a longstand-ing collaboration with Putroe Kandee, which hasprovided gender and human rights training for nearly90 percent of Shariah Court judges in Aceh.

COMMUNITY-ORIENTED POLICING

One of the first actions the new government tookafter the fall of the New Order government was todemilitarize the police. Working with the Centersfor Human Rights Studies at the Islamic Universityof Indonesia in Yogyakarta and Airlangga Universityin Surabaya, as well as local partners ManikayaKauci, Percik Foundation, and Fahmina, The AsiaFoundation is supporting the police and Indonesiancommunities to develop new, positive partnerships,focusing on enhancing police legitimacy and respon-siveness to community needs. The Foundation hasconvened more than 60 task forces across fiveprovinces to facilitate dialogue between local policedepartments and community leaders. These taskforces have seen falls in general crime rates and bet-ter police preparedness to handle specific crimescommon in the regions of focus, human trafficking,domestic violence, and religious violence. Workingwith the National Police Academy, the Foundationhas supported the development of a curriculum incommunity-oriented policing and human rights thathas been incorporated into training for all third-yearpolice cadets. More than 1,500 police officers havegone through Foundation-designed community ori-ented policing and human rights training programsat the academy.

PRISON REFORMDespite notable reforms in Indonesia’s criminal jus-tice system, primarily in the judiciary, the AttorneyGeneral’s Office, and the National Police, thefourth branch, the corrections system, has untilrecently received relatively little attention. Theprison system is plagued by chronic problemsincluding acute overcrowding and overstaying. Atthe same time, there are a high number of pre-trialdetainees held in prisons, extensive drug circulation,high HIV-related mortality rates among inmates,unclear and inconsistent implementation of remis-sion awards, and a worryingly high number ofrecidivist criminals. Pervasive corruption in prisonshas only compounded these problems. Workingclosely with a consortium of civil society organiza-

tions and key Indonesian correction officials, The Asia Foundation has collaborated with theDirectorate General of Corrections to develop aBlueprint for Corrections Service Reform thatmaps out reform objectives, identifies challenges,and prioritizes steps that need to be taken. Withsupport from the Australian Department of ForeignAffairs and Trade and AusAID, the Foundation hasassisted the DGC to implement this Blueprint. Wehave worked with the DGC to institutionalize afunctioning inmate database system, strengthen theregulatory framework to prevent prison overstay,and expand the role of parole and non-custodialsentencing in draft national legislation. The data-base system is operational in more than 113 correc-tional facilities across the country and uptake isincreasing rapidly. As the reform process moves for-ward, the Foundation is working to strengthenmechanisms to supervise services provided by thecorrections system and compliance with standardminimum rules for treatment of prisoners, and fur-ther enhance the capacity of the DGC to manageinformation and offer public access to correctionsinformation.

CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING

In the reform era, civil society organizations haveplayed an important role in the transition to democ-racy by promoting justice sector reform, monitoringlaw and justice institutions, providing technicalassistance, conducting analytical work, and buildingdemand for reform, counter-corruption efforts, andexpanding access to justice. The Asia Foundationsupported the founding of leading justice-sectorNGOs such as the Center for Indonesia Law andPolicy Studies (PSHK) and Hukumonline – whichfacilitates access to legal information for Indonesianlegal professionals – and provides institutional sup-port to issue-specific organizations like theIndonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL).The Foundation’s support for community serviceorganizations (CSOs) has helped partner organiza-tions develop their management and leadershipstrategies, develop secure funding bases, improveaccountability and constituency, and establishknowledge management and human resource systems. We also work to build CSO capacity byoffering technical assistance in research and evalua-tion. Finally, the Foundation seeks to promote international best practices in regards to addressing corruption and increasing access to justice.

For more information on Asia Foundation justice sector programs, please contact Leopold Sudaryono (lsudaryono@tafindo.org) or Eric Putzig(eputzig@tafindo.org). The Asia Foundation’s justice sector programs are supported through partnerships with the bilateral assistance agencies ofAustralia, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States. 10/2012

The Asia Foundation

is a nonprofit international

development organization

committed to improving

lives across a dynamic

and developing Asia.

Headquartered in San

Francisco, The Asia

Foundation works through

a network of offices in

17 Asian countries and in

Washington, DC. Working

with public and private

partners, the Foundation

receives funding from

a diverse group of

bilateral and multilateral

development agencies,

foundations, corporations,

and individuals.