Negotiating Legal Pluralism: Judicial Reasoning on Domestic Violence Divorce Cases in Indonesian Religious Courts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31958/juris.v25i2.16530Keywords:
Domestic Violence, Divorce, Religious Court, Domestic Violence Law, Post Divorce RightsAbstract
This study examines how judges in the East Kalimantan Religious Courts construct their judicial reasoning and the extent to which they integrate the Domestic Violence Law (UUPKDRT) when deciding divorce cases involving domestic violence. Using a normative legal approach combined with qualitative case studies of six court decisions and interviews with judges, it addresses a research gap in studies of Indonesian Religious Courts that have rarely analyzed domestic‑violence‑related divorce through the lenses of legal pluralism and judicial behavior. The findings show that, although domestic violence is the dominant ground in women’s divorce petitions, judges inconsistently integrate the Domestic Violence Law and instead tend to prioritize the traditional marriage‑law framework (the Marriage Law, Government Regulation 9/1975, and the Compilation of Islamic Law), alongside theological and social–medical reasoning justified by concerns about the specificity of claims and jurisdictional limits. At the same time, the study highlights a more progressive pattern in the Penajam Religious Court, where judges explicitly invoke Articles 5 and 9 (1) Domestic Violence Law to define and qualify various forms of violence, including economic violence, as grounds for divorce within a civil context. Theoretically, the article contributes to debates on legal pluralism and judicial behavior by showing how religious judges in a plural legal order selectively integrate, restrict, or resist criminal law concepts in civil family litigation, thereby shaping the legal recognition of domestic violence and the pursuit of substantive justice for victims.References
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