Self-Reflexivity: A Must-Have Guide for Judicial Mediators in Indonesia

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Self-Reflexivity: A Must-Have Guide for Judicial Mediators in Indonesia

Fatahillah Abdul Syukur, PhD.
Faculty of Law, Universitas Pancasila, South Jakarta, Jakarta, 12630, Indonesia

Abstract: Court-Annexed Mediation is relatively a new institution in the Indonesian legal system. It was initially established in 2003; however, to date, its settlement success rate is still low. One of the major problems is lack of competence of its mediators due to lack of funding to provide sufficient trainings. This paper argues that judicial mediators in Indonesia must also have self-reflexivity when settling disputes because parties come from various cultural backgrounds. The paper examines some aspects that can influence judicial mediators in mediating the process and producing amicable settlements. The author provides his self-reflexibility when assessing his expectations in writing this paper and in the implementation of court-annexed mediation in Indonesia.

Keywords: Self-reflexivity, mediation, gender, culture, Indonesia.

I. INTRODUCTION

Indonesia is a country with rich cultural backgrounds. The Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Chinese Confucian and Western values have influenced the Indonesian culture into an intricate blend of different traditional norms consisting of more than 300 tribes[1].It has three legal sources concerning civil dispute resolution which influence one another: indigenous (adat) law, Islamic law (Sharia) and state civil law[2]. Despite the complex systems, each legal source offers similar aspects to prioritize settling disputes amicably based on musywarahmufakat. It is a dispute resolution method which prioritizes communal harmony over individual interests to reach mutual consensus[3]. Barnes asserts[4]:

…Perhaps due to the absence of a credible court system the musyawarah maybe the most important institution for conflict resolution in Indonesia, including business, and ‘civil’ disputes as well as criminal disputes. Decisions made through this process have strong legitimacy in the community since all the parties have been consulted and involved in the process. The process is collective, consultative decision-making one in which all parties who consider they have an interest in a matter talk it through until a resolution is found. Everything that is said is considered equally correct and is applied towards solving the problem as presented to the group. One of the assumptions is that the ultimate result will be consensus (mufakat) among all present, acceptable as appropriate by all parties.

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