Developing mediation to increase access to justice in Indonesia
Representatives from the Supreme Court of Indonesia (Mahkamah Agung) met with peers from the Federal Court of Australia in Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) to launch a pilot program supporting courts in the province to increase the use of mediation as a form of alternative dispute resolution, rather than formal court proceedings. The visit, which took place from 24-26 November 2014, was funded by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Justice.
Mediation is a form of dispute resolution where a third party, the mediator, facilitates the proceedings until an agreement is reached in accordance with the law. ‘Mediation is in line with the values of the Indonesian people, reaching an agreement though consensus and collection discussion,’ said the Vice Governor of NTB Muhammad Amin, at the Seminar for Improving Alternative Dispute Resolution in Indonesia on Tuesday, 25 November. ‘It would be useful if courts could enforce agreements reached through mediation,’ he said.
The increased use of mediation will benefit both the courts and the parties involved. The cost of mediation proceedings is much lower than a formal court trial, and dispute resolution is usually faster, therefore increasing access to justice for citizens.
Warwick Soden, CEO of the Federal Court of Australia, spoke about Australia’s experience in developing mediation for civil disputes. He said that mediation is often an appropriate avenue for resolving commercial or familial disputes, rather than questions of law. The Federal Court has found that mediation has been a useful way of relieving the pressure on its case backlog.
During the visit, the Supreme Court of Indonesia’s Deputy Chief Justice for Court Management, H. Suwardi, SH, MH, led a visit to the Religious Court of Selong in East Lombok. The Selong Religious Court is one of the pilot courts for the mediation program and has jurisdiction over family matters for Muslims, including divorce and inheritance. Such issues are often appropriate for mediation rather than court proceedings and the success of this pilot program is expected to serve as an example for other courts across Indonesia.
Deputy Chief Justice Suwardi noted that one of the reasons mediation had not taken off in Indonesian courts was that judges were not rewarded for overseeing mediated outcomes. ‘The pilot program will change this; we will trial an approach under which judges who successfully mediate large numbers of cases will be rewarded through promotion rounds and transfers to desirable locations,’ he said.
Sia Lagos, the National Registrar of the Federal Court of Australia, shared her experience pioneering mediation in Australia. For the successful implementation of a mediation system, Ms. Lagos advised that it was paramount to have skilled mediators, a monitoring and evaluation system, and to systematise mediation as an alternative dispute resolution. ‘We also impose sanctions on parties who do not turn up to court-ordered mediations, such as getting them to pay the other party’s costs,’ she said.
(Text and photos by Tamasin Young)
