The “what happens in court” page doesn’t fully describe the court experience; what really happens
in court needs a bit more explanation.
Your first hint may be the courtroom itself. If you are in Bali you probably arrived through the beautifully modern, air-conditioned,
and expensive airport. Imigrasi in Renon and many other government offices are newly built or renovated, and world-class luxury
hotels pull huge sums of money from overseas guests.
The government frequently makes announcements of changes in policy and regulations to encourage or streamline foreign investment,
but a visit to the Pengadilan Negeri Denpasar may be a shock because the attention given by the government to the legal
system necessary to protect those investments is negligible.
The buildings are old, noisy, and without air-conditioning. Ventilation comes from open windows, meaning that all the outside noise
echoes through the tile-floored courtrooms. The audience sits on hard wood-slat benches and must strain to hear the words of the
judges or hakim, the lawyers or pengacara, and especially the witnesses or saksi who are facing away from the
audience. There are no microphones or sound equipment to amplify or record the proceedings.
Motorbikes roar past outside. At 1:00 PM the bus from the prison arrives accompanied by a half dozen police guards on large
motorbikes, while the prisoner bus backs into place with a loud dinging bell beside the courtroom, and the prisoners then exit
accompanied by loud shouts. And all the time the courtroom proceedings continue through the din, unheard by most spectators or even
participants.
Although there is a notice posted outside the courtroom door explaining required courtroom decorum including such norms as that the
audience must rise as the judges enter the court, cellphones must be silenced, no conversations are allowed in the court, and so
on, they have no effect in practice. The acoustics of the courtroom are already difficult enough, but for anyone sitting in the
audience it is made worse as they try to follow the proceedings through all the private conversations and cellphone discussions going
on in the back of the room.
Previously it was noted that the Gugatan and other declarations to the court may be read aloud, but are more often taken into
submission as written documents. But generally if read aloud the declarations are delivered in a mumbled monotone—most Indonesian
lawyers seem to have poor courtroom skills—while the hakim and other participants may or may not be paying attention. Typically
the hakim freely converse among themselves or read other documents while declarations or witness testimonies are being
delivered.
Indonesian pengacara claim that the Majelis Hakim do not need to pay attention during court because they will read everything
later. This may be true, but since the Panitera is responsible for recording witness testimony, and the Panitera only writes
down what he or she herself feels are highlights, and the Panitera sits at the far end of the bench away from the saksi where
she may or may not be able to hear the testimony well, the written record may be far from complete.
The end result is that despite all the procedures, declarations, and hearings, the actual courtroom experience generally fulfills the
formal requirements of process and testimony, but may doubted whether it provides effective presentation and evaluation
of merits.
Presentation of evidence raises another doubt. The opposing party receives a copy of the other side’s List of Evidence or
Daftar Bukti, and the opposing pengacara may get a quick glance at the evidence itself as it is presented
to the Majelis Hakim for approval—although without explanation of the meaning or details of the evidence at that
time—but it is difficult for the opposing principals to know the contents of the opposing party’s evidence. If the
documents are falsified, there is no way for the opposing party to know. They might request copies of documents,
but the request may or may not be granted.
Particular definitions of evidence in Indonesian law opens up opportunities for falsified documents or withholding of original
documents in civil trials; if a party submits a false or altered document, gambling that the opposing party will not discover it,
and then destroys the original false document after the Majelis Hakim approves the photocopy,
it may be difficult to file a criminal charge for falsification of documents because the original document needed for evidence
no longer exists. Any legal scholar would argue that the copy in the hands of the Majelis Hakim is sufficient proof,
but in practice any half-way experienced collusive investigator could side-track a criminal report.
Witholding of documents is equally effective. Proof of land ownership in most cases requires the original Certificate of Land Ownership
or Setifikat Hak Milik. If the Tergugat has the land and the Sertifikat but refuses to bring it to court, the Decision
may be found against the Penggugat due to lack of evidence. In theory the Majelis Hakim has the authority to compel submission of the document, but they seldom
use it. The reason to include the BPN or National Land Office or other Turut Tergugat in the Gugatan is with the
hope that they will appear and present proof of the original documents as disinterested parties. But with collusion, the BPN
may be fully interested in the case—either on behalf of one of the parties, or even possibly to cover up practices
at the BPN itself—and so may fail to present documents in court. Again, the Majelis Hakim is unlikely to use their power
to compel compliance.
[But on the other hand, for a disputing party to show bad faith by failing to submit original documents despite clear evidence that
they do indeed posess those documents, does permit the Majelis Hakim to issue a ruling accepting the existence of the
documents...so refusal to cooperate with the court is not always entirely effective, and may even be counter-productive if the
Majelis Hakim decides a party has shown contempt of court.