Fatherhood in a Limbo | Wijaya on the Access

Family law in Indonesia may be confusing for people that may not be familiar with the legal system. Private laws are divided according to people?s religion affiliation.

I was contacted by a father with out of wedlock child married in Moslem. He needs to get his name on the child?s birth certificate. It seems that he is receiving conflicting information. He keeps hitting the block. He?s stuck between the two legal systems for Moslem and Non Moslem in Indonesia.

Let me explain this to you. Private law in Indonesia has two major systems: Moslem and Non Moslem. For Moslem individual, their private laws are mainly subject to Islamic Compilation Law, and of course some national acts such as 1974 Marriage Law. They register their marriage with KUA. The birth of the child registered at Civil Registry. Their divorce processed at Religious Court. For Moslems, they don?t recognized out of wedlock child. They recognized Istbath Nikah which is to legalize the previous religious marriage conducted before the child was born. On the other hand, Non-Moslem individuals, their private laws are mainly subject to Civil Code, and some national enacted laws such as 1974 Marriage Law. They register their marriage with Civil Registry. The birth of the child registered at the Civil Registry as well. Their divorce processed at district court. For Non-Moslems, they recognized out of wedlock child. They legalize the child born out of wedlock within the marriage of the parents, if the marriage is a scenario. If the marriage was not a scenario, they recognized child acknowledgment. The father acknowledge the child is his, and the mother consents such acknowledgment.

You see why some people are hitting the block? They are in between of two legal systems of private laws. The correct way to solve the case is to get an Istbath Nikah. But the court rarely approve that because they think Istbath Nikah is entertaining bigamy in Indonesia. Therefore, the only legal way to solve this issue is by getting child legalization with the district court. This is not only about telling the court what the facts are. This is about getting the court approve that you as the couple married in Moslem to use the legal system made for Non-Moslems, have the baby legalized and getting your name on the birth certificate even though he/she was born before the marriage of the parents.

The private legal systems are the implementations of Indonesia as the most Moslems populous country, and its accommodation of other fellow citizens with different religions. The Indonesian laws are the mirror of our people and its varieties. I hope you?ve got the whole big picture of the limbo where you?re stuck in. I wrote this so other fathers may not get stuck in some limbos in the middle of nowhere. Please forward this post to others who might need the information. We need to make sure that no one left behind, in the limbo, and get them to have the access to the legal system in Indonesia. I am Asep Wijaya. Thank you for helping me spreading the access to the legal system in Indonesia.

Source: http://wijayaco.asia/?p=318

shea weber greystone sidney crosby at the drive in alternative minimum tax modeselektor gran torino