Developing a National Legal Aid System

In 2011, Indonesia adopted a new Legal Aid Act (Law No.16/2011). Presently, the Government is drafting implementing regulations. Establishing an effective and accessible national legal aid system based on the new law is central to AIPJ’s Realising Rights strategy for poor justice seekers.

To examine the delivery of legal aid at the sub-national level (independent of the national legal aid system), AIPJ supported the Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) to conduct research into how governments in five provinces (West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Central Java, East Java and South-East Sulawesi) and five districts/municipalities (Musi Banyuasin, Palembang, Semarang, Makassar, and Sinjai) support the system. The study examined how these sub-national governments allocate and distribute funds for legal aid, the scope of legal aid provided, and eligibility to receive legal aid, including the definition of ‘poor’.

A key research finding was the difficulty in reaching agreement on how to identify the poor for eligibility given the diverse and conflicting poverty indicators and documentation requirements. Even acquiring a SKTM (a letter which states that a person is poor issued by the village head and local officials) can cost money in some areas. This means that the very poorest people can lack the documentation to prove eligibility. YLBHI and other stakeholders have been advocating for a more flexible criteria to identify the poor.

Agung Wijaya, a researcher from YLBHI observed that some of the systems studied provided legal aid in areas that the national system did not cover. “For example, the legal aid system in MusiBanyuasin is not confined to civil and criminal cases, giving more people access to legal aid. There are also agreements with the local universities to provide legal aid,” he said.

Best practices, challenges, and lessons learned from the study will be shared with the national and local level governments. Opportunities for advocating for legal aid funding at the sub-national level in other districts will also be explored.

This study is informing AIPJ’s revision to the Legal Aid Handbook that is being updated to take into account the new law. AIPJ will distribute the updated handbook to local governments, legal aid institutes (LBHs), members of the judiciary, advocates, academics, members of parliaments, and civil society organisations.

The challenges and lessons learned in providing legal aid services through legal aid posts (posbakum) and circuit courts (sidang keliling) have also been discussed in two workshops held by the Directorate General for Religious Courts (Badilag) on 16-19 July 2013. Supported by AIPJ, the outcomes of these workshops will assist Badilag to ensure effective delivery of legal aid services under the new Legal Aid Act framework. Workshop participants included representatives from the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (BPHN) that has responsibility for implementing the new Act, the team drafting the implementing regulations, and the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS).