Mediation a quick and inexpensive dispute resolution for vulnerable justice seekers
The Supreme Court of Indonesia and Family Court of Australia recognise mediation as a quick and inexpensive form of dispute resolution. It can reduce case backlog, improve efficiency and enhance access to justice for the poor or disadvantaged.
Through their Memorandum of Understanding on Judicial Cooperation, renewed again this October, courts of both countries committed to strengthening an institutional framework for mediation in Indonesia.
AIPJ continues to support the Memorandum of Understanding in delivering three mediation workshops that have trained a total of 90 Religious Court judges from throughout Indonesia. The training sessions have focused on making court services more accessible to vulnerable groups such as women, children, and people with disabilities, and raising awareness of the impact of power imbalances between parties in the courtroom.
The workshops allowed the courts to exchange knowledge and develop a framework for ensuring the application of the Family Court’s mediation experience is relevant to Indonesia. ‘This workshop was helpful in developing my understanding of how mediation can be applied on the job, particularly [in cases] where there are differences in the roles and responsibilities of different parties,’ said Justice Muhadir of the Bandung Religious Court. ‘Mediation must find solutions that are agreeable to both parties, so they will not appeal the result. This helps to achieve the court’s objective of simple, speedy and low cost procedures,’ he added.
Farid Ismail, Directorate General of Indonesia’s Religious Court body said, ‘The legal and judicial systems in Indonesia and Australia are different, but the knowledge and experience in mediation of the speakers from Australia is valuable.’
Leisha Lister, Executive Adviser at the Family Court added, ‘Although there are differences between mediation in Australia and Indonesia we can learn together to provide the best service for justice seekers.’
Supporting the Indonesian justice system to provide fast, consistent and accessible services to all justice seekers is a core focus of AIPJ’s Realising Rights strategy. AIPJ will continue to support the valuable court to court partnerships that have been established to build a long-term institutional framework for mediation in Indonesia.
