Examining Examples Of Cases Of Violation Of Customary Laws And Their Sanctions In Indonesia

Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Customary law is one of the regulations whose position is recognized by the state. In fact, this law is still widely used to regulate the daily activities of residents, including in providing witnesses to perpetrators of violations. There are many examples of cases of violation of customary law and their sanctions in Indonesia. But before that, first understand the meaning of customary law.

Definition of Customary Law

The term adat comes from Arabic which when translated into Indonesian means habit. In general, adat is a person's behavior that is continuously carried out in a certain way and is followed by the outside community for a long time.

Dr. Yulia, SH, MH in the Customary Law Textbook divides customary elements, namely the existence of a person's behavior, being carried out continuously, having a time dimension, and being followed by others.

Customs show the forms, attitudes, and actions of human change in customary law communities to maintain the prevailing habits in their environment, including law and sanctions for violations.

In general, customary law is an opinion of decency in society whose legal truth is agreed upon by group members. The existence of this customary law is also legally recognized by the state.

State recognition of customary law refers to article 18B paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution which states that the State recognizes and respects indigenous peoples and their traditional rights as long as they are still alive and in accordance with the development of society and the principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, which are regulated in law.

A Brief History of Customary Law

The term customary law was scientifically introduced by Snouck Hurgronje through his book De Atjehers. In the book, the term customary law is stated as Adat Recht (Dutch), which is to give the name to the social court system (social control) that applies in Indonesian society.

The term was later scientifically developed by Van Vollenhoven, an expert on customary law in the Dutch East Indies. He argues that customary law is all original law, namely laws that are not based on laws and regulations made by the Dutch East Indies government or other powers.

A Brief History of Customary Law in Indonesia

As a country inhabited by many tribes, Indonesia also has many customary laws. The function and position of customary law in Indonesia continues to develop. In the colonial era, the position of customary law was considered to have a lower degree than European law. This view lasted shortly, occurring around 1808 to 1811.

The Governor General of England, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then formed a team that was assigned to study and research the existing regulations in society. This was done to improve government law in the era of his leadership.

The results of the research were then collected on February 11, 1814. From there a regulation was born which was named Regulation for the More Effectual Administration of Justice in The Provincial Court of Java.

The post-independence government also recognized the position of customary law. Recognition is stated in the Basic Law. As stated in Article 18 B of the 1945 Constitution that "The State Declares and Respects Customary Law Community Units and Their Traditional Rights as long as they are still alive and in accordance with the principles of society and the principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, which are regulated in the Law (UU). .

Examples of Cases of Violation of Customary Laws and their Sanctions in Indonesia

Even though Indonesia has a 1945 Constitution, customary law can still be used to settle criminal cases. In fact, several criminal sanctions were imposed through customary law.

For example, do you remember the murder case of Medelin Sumual in West Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan (Kaltim)? The perpetrator of the murder was Muhamad Munawir.

He was decided to have to pay a fine of Rp1,898,000,000. The decision was issued by the Kutai Barat Regency Customary Institution.

In previous VOI reports, it was said that the Kutai Barat Regency Customary Institution considered various things. Among them are the demands of the victim's family, post-incident social unrest that has the potential for instability in West Kutai. Apart from that, balancing also refers to efforts to keep the situation peaceful and conducive and to prevent this kind of incident from recurring.

Considerations are also based on efforts to create unity and integrity, as well as the establishment of a sense of brotherhood based on mutual respect and respect among each other in West Kutai as well as efforts to eliminate enmity and slander revenge in the community.

"Decided Brother Muhamad Munawir to be found guilty of having lost / killed Medelin Sumual's sister. Violating the customary law of Bolitn Mate Namar Umar. The customary sanction is imposed of 4120 Antakng or IDR1,648,000,000 and covers the cost of the customary ceremony for the death of Paramp Api and Kenyau Etus Askng of IDR 250 million, ”said the excerpt of the customary sanction decision.

The Kutai Barat Regency Customary Institution gave Munawir a maximum deadline of six months.

"If up to the predetermined deadline, which is August 4, 2021, the customary fine of Rp. 1,898,000,000 cannot be fulfilled / paid, then immediately coordinate with the large adat institution of West Kutai Regency to discuss matters relating to the payment of fines."

In addition to information related to examples of cases of violation of customary law and their sanctions, get information and other national and international news through VOI.