“Unlike a common civil lawsuit, in The Small Claim Court Process, the judge must be handed down its decision within 25 working days since the first day of the hearing.“

Pursuant to the Supreme Court Regulation Number 2 Of 2015 on Small Claim Court Procedures, The Supreme Court has provided a new procedure for civil case with material claim  IDR 200 million, a Simple Lawsuit. This procedure has many advantages than the common lawsuit. The common civil lawsuit requires a long time over many years until the Judges issue the decision. In the Small Claim Court process, the judge must rule its decision within 25 working days since the first day of the hearing.

These are criteria of a simple lawsuit:

1. The material loss of the Plaintiff is less than or equal to IDR 200,000,000,-;
2. The dispute is not related to land ownership;
3. Does not categorize as a dispute settlement which is examined under special courts;
4. The defendant’s domicile must be existed;
5. The plaintiff and defendant are located in the same jurisdiction;
6. The number of plaintiff and defendant are no more than one party, unless they have the same legal interests.

The plaintiff and the defendant are obliged to attend the hearing and cannot be represented by  lawyers. Lawyers can only accompany their clients during the hearing. If the plaintiff does not present on the first day of the hearing, the judge will cancel the case accordingly.

The small claim lawsuit will proceed in an open court to public by a single judge, who at the same time will also as the mediator. The judge will actively pursue the settlement between the parties. As the mediator, the judge prefers to conduct the mediation without involving their attorneys.

WHY THE SMALL CLAIM COURT PROCESS IS FASTER ?

The settlement through the small claim court process does not require written answers from the plaintiff and/or defendant like replik, duplik and conclusion. However, the defendant is still has the opportunity to respond the lawsuit by submitting the written answer, but without the existence of exception and counter claim (gugatan rekonpensi). The intervention and the provisional decision do not apply in the small claim court process.

Basically, settlement through the small claim court process is the best way to solve the case with IDR 200 Million value of material losses or less. If a material damage in a legal claim in regular procedure is below than IDR 200 million, then the court will reject the case and order the plaintiff to submit a new legal claim before the small claim court.

A simple case would be very tiring, waste of time and costly if it must be examined through a regular civil lawsuit proceeding. The proceeding in the district court will be examined approximately within 6 months. Further, anyone can obtain legal certainty faster because there is no appeal in The High Court, Cassation and judicial review to the Supreme Court.

However, according to the regulation, the court must stating its ruling within 25 working days since the first day of the hearing.

WEAKNESS

One of the crucial things in this procedure is the small claim case can only be submitted if the plaintiff and the defendant are in the same jurisdiction. According to our discussion with Syamsul Ma’arif, a justice of the Supreme Court, there will be adjustment on this provision. One of the suggestion that the plaintiff can use the domicile of its attorney’s office.

Moreover, if the party in the case is a company, then the director of the company must attend the hearing. This provision will contribute a huge impact to business operation. We cannot imagine if a multinational company is being claimed in Jakarta by its customers, then the court will order the director of the company to attend the hearing and cannot be represented by his lawyer. We are of the view that the court should allow an employee of the company to attend the hearing as a proxy of the director in accordance with the Company law.

According to Pusat Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan (PSHK), until the end of 2015 there is only 1 case registered as a simple lawsuit in the South Jakarta District Court. And until June 2016 almost 10 cases registered as a simple lawsuit in Tangerang District Court.

 

Fairus Harris, S.H, M.Kn / Bimo Prasetio, S.H

 

BP Lawyers can help you

We can assist you in small claim court case, whether as a plaintiff as well as defendant, to determine the best strategy for your case. Contact us now to get a solution to your case.

We can be reached at:

E: bpl@smartlegal.id 

H: +62821-1234-1235