FSH NEWS, Aston Bintaro Hotel - The Deans Forum of the Faculty of Sharia and Law (FSH) throughout Indonesia held a National Meeting at Aston Bintaro Hotel, South Tangerang. In the first session, the guest speaker was Dr Candra Boy Seroza, S.Ag., M.A., Director of Technical Staff Development of the Religious Courts Agency of the Supreme Court of Indonesia, with moderator Prof. Sudirman, M.A..

In his presentation on Thursday (18/9) at Aston Bintaro Hotel, Dr Candra Boy emphasised the importance of digital transformation in religious courts as an answer to the changing times. According to him, a step towards an inclusive digital court has been realised by presenting four electronic services, namely registration, payment, summoning, and electronic trial.

"The latest data shows that 90-95% of cases in the Religious Courts have been registered through the e-Court system. The target is that by 2025 at least 85% of cases will be registered electronically, and by 2026 100% will be required," he explained.

He also emphasised that conventional procedural law will be transformed to digital, although for certain cases with special reasons it is still possible to use conventional procedures.

In addition, the Supreme Court (MA) routinely conducts chamber plenary sessions every year for legal reform, both in the religious, general, military, supervisory, and guidance chambers. Three important instruments in the renewal process are Supreme Court Regulations (Perma), Supreme Court Circular Letters (Sema), and Jurisprudence.

Some of the latest regulations highlighted include:

1. Perma No. 1 Year 2016 on Mediation Procedures in Court.

2. Perma No. 3 of 2022 on Electronic Mediation.

3. Perma No. 3 of 2017 on Guidelines for the Trial of Women Against the Law.

4. Perma No. 5 of 2019 on Guidelines for the Trial of Marital Dispensation Cases.

5. Perma No. 1 of 2024 on Guidelines for Judging Criminal Cases Based on Restorative Justice.

"In the future, judges will also act as mediators so they need to be equipped with knowledge of family psychology, child psychology, and mediation skills. This is important considering the divorce rate in Indonesia reaches 600 thousand cases per year," he added.

Interactive Discussion

In the question and answer session that took place at Aston Bintaro Hotel, South Tangerang, a number of participants from various universities expressed their views.

• Amelia (UIN Antasari Banjarmasin) asked about the integration of case services with local governments. Dr Candra explained that some regions have cooperated with the local government, for example case payments are directly deducted through the court treasurer.

• Asyiq Amrullah (UIN Mataram) highlighted the employment opportunities for mediators and the need for research to support the quality of religious court decisions.

• Ismayawati (IAIN Kudus) proposed research cooperation between judges and lecturers as well as a policy of forced execution in the Religious Courts.

In response, Badilag welcomed the proposal for research collaboration between judges and academics, including a follow-up plan in the form of a Cooperation Agreement (PKS), preparation of technical guidelines for internships, facilitation of technical guidance on judge selection, and joint website development.

In closing, the forum held on 18 September 2025 at Aston Bintaro Hotel, South Tangerang, resulted in an agreement to strengthen the synergy between the Supreme Court and the Faculty of Sharia and Law throughout Indonesia through the signing of an MoU by the deans with Badilag MA RI.(NSC)