Prohibition for Indonesian Judges to Grant Requests for Registration of Marriages Between People of Different Religions and Beliefs in Indonesia

Abstract

The Indonesian Supreme Court issued a circular prohibiting judges from granting applications for the registration of marriages between people of different religions and beliefs. This Supreme Court Circular Letter (SEMA) Number 2 of 2023 is considered to have implications for the human rights of citizens to marry, whereas previously courts in Indonesia often granted this request and the last one was petition No. 155/Pdt.P/2023/PN.Jkt.Pst. So the authors formulate the problem to be studied, namely what is the legal consideration of the Central Jakarta District Court judge in granting the application for the registration of interfaith marriages with case number No. 155/Pdt.P/2023/PN.Jkt.Pst dated 12 June 2023? second, what are the legal implications related to SEMA No. 2 of 2023 which prohibits judges in Indonesia from granting any application for the registration of interfaith marriages? This research will be carried out using normative legal research methods and the results are 1) that the judge's legal considerations in Determination Number 155/Pdt.P/2023/PN.Jkt.Pst are very inhuman if the application for good faith marriage is rejected simply because there is no the law governing interfaith marriages, marriage despite being of different religions is a human right and sociologically in Indonesia it is reasonable, there is already a jurisprudence from the Indonesian Supreme Court which has granted a request regarding interfaith marriage permits to protect human rights interfaith marriages must be granted to be registered by the state. 2) SEMA No. 2 of 2023 has implications for “the denial and neglect of state institutions in the implementation of constitutional obligations and legal rights of citizens, as well as forms of discrimination by state institutions in the field of marriage.” “In addition, it has violated the principle of administering judicial power, namely the principle of not discriminating, and the obligation of judges to explore, follow, and understand legal values and a sense of justice that lives in society.”