Using Aceh’s Qanun to Expand Protection for Domestic Violence Victims

Abstract

Domestic violence was criminalised by Indonesian Law No 23 of 2004.  The Indonesian State Courts (Pengadilan Negeri) have authority to apply the criminal provisions of this Law. However, most victims of domestic violence do not report to the police, so these criminal provisions remain critically underused. Instead, most victims prefer to seek divorce in the Islamic courts (known as the Mahkamah Syariah in Aceh). Although many divorce applications are based on domestic violence, the Mahkamah Syariah rarely engages with these issues when granting divorce. This lack of engagement is largely due to it lacking jurisdiction to apply State criminal law. At present, the State criminal and religious law jurisdictions operate as separate systems, and domestic violence victims fall between the cracks. This article explores the option of making the Islamic criminal law jurisdiction of the Mahkamah Syariah available to victims of domestic violence by enacting domestic violence protections in Qanun (that, is Acehnese local laws) to bridge the gap between the two systems.