Introduction
In 2018, the President of the Republic of Indonesia issued Presidential Regulation No. 95 of 2018 on the Electronic-Based Government Systems (PR No. 95/2018). PR No. 95/2018 comprises a comprehensive set of guidelines for central and local governments, and governmental institutions regarding the organisation of Electronic Based Government System (SPBE). One of the implementations of SPBE itself is an electronic court (e-court) system. Up to this point, the Supreme Court has continued to issue and amend the Supreme Court policies regarding the e-court system.
In 2023, the Supreme Court issued two policies to support the operation of the e-court system, namely:
- the Circular of the Supreme Court No. 1 of 2023 on Procedures for Summons and Notifications by Registered Letter (Circular No. 1/2023); and
- the Decree of the Supreme Court No. 207/KMA/SK HK2/X/2023 of 2023 on Electronic Administration of Applications for Legal Remedy, the Proceeding of Cassation and Judicial Review at the Supreme Court (Decree No. 207/2023).
Circular No. 1/2023
Circular No. 1/2023 is a guideline that implements the provisions of:
- Regulation of the Supreme Court No. 7 of 2022 on the Amendment to Regulation of the Supreme Court No. 1 of 2019 on Administration of Cases and Legal Proceedings in Courts Via Electronic Means; and
- Regulation of the Supreme Court No. 8 of 2022 on the Amendment to Regulation of the Supreme Court No. 4 of 2020 on Administration and Proceeding of Criminal Cases in Court via Electronic Means.
Circular No. 1/2023 states that the delivery of summons and notifications to parties, including third parties, that do not have electronic domicile in the process of administration and proceedings in court electronically will be conducted through registered letters.
Definition of registered letter
Summons or notification via registered letter is a summons or notification delivered to the parties through a letter addressed to the recipient that must be proven by a receipt from the recipient by mentioning the receipt date. The registered letter will be delivered by the court using the services of a registered letter delivery provider as determined by the Supreme Court, namely, PT Pos Indonesia.1
Registered letter delivery mechanisms
The summons or notification must be hand delivered to the parties. The officer of the registered letter delivery service provider will record electronically if the parties are not willing to accept or not willing to sign and the letter is returned to the court.
If the parties cannot be found in person at their residence, the summons or notification will be delivered to the adults who live in the same household as the parties or to the receptionist or security officer for the parties who reside in places with limited access (eg, an apartment or multistory housing). The summons or notification that are not delivered directly to the parties may only be conducted in the event that:
- the recipients are not the counterparty in the relevant case; and
- the recipient is willing to be photographed along with the relevant identity card.
If the adults, the receptionist or security officer are not willing to be photographed along with their identity card, the summons or notification will be delivered through the local head of sub-district or village head.
The summons or notification delivered through the local head of sub-district or village head may also be conducted when at time of delivery or notification, the houses of the parties are uninhabited and the officer must attach the photographs of the respective house. In the event that the address of the parties is not found or the parties do not live at that address and their whereabouts are unknown, the summons or notification will be conducted through the normal summons mechanism.
The abovementioned condition may only be stated with the information from the local head of sub-district or village head.
Delivery period
The summons must be delivered by registered letter no later than six calendar days prior to the hearing and properly received by the parties at the latest three business days prior to the hearing unless stipulated otherwise in the laws and regulations.
Observation
Since the issuance of Circular No. 1/2023, the summons or notification process can be carried out more rapidly and affordably. The delivery of summons or notification through the registered letter must be accompanied by evidence or information that can be accessed electronically. Information regarding the electronic summons to the parties can be seen in the e-court application, however, the information on the delivered summons or notification via registered letter is only accessible to the registrar and judges through the dashboard application provided by PT Pos Indonesia.
The summons or notification via registered letter that is delivered through the receptionist or security officer may only be conducted if the recipients are not the counterparty in the relevant case. However, Circular No. 1/2023 does not explain what to do if the person eligible to receive the summons or notification via registered letter is an enterprise who is also the counterparty in the relevant case. It is expected that the Supreme Court will provide further explanation or regulation to clarify this to ensure legal certainty on a valid and proper summons sent through a registered letter.
Decree No. 207/2023
The other recent regulation within this year 2023 is the Decree No. 207/2023 to implement further the Regulation of the Supreme Court No. 6 of 2022 on Electronic Administration of Applications of Legal Remedy, Cassation, and Judicial Review at the Supreme Court (Regulation No. 6/2022). Decree No. 207/2023 is intended to provide technical instructions related to the administrative submission and proceeding of the cassation and judicial review electronically. One of the technical instructions regulated in the Decree No. 207/2023 is the administrative submission and proceeding of the cassation and judicial review of the general and special civil, religious, and state administration cases through the e-court application.
Cassation
Registration of electronic cassation
Cassation applicant shall only submit their application through the e-court application after receiving notification of the relevant decision of appeal or last-stage proceedings. The cassation application will be processed at the district court in which the case was initially heard and decided (the applying court) after the relevant fees for the legal proceedings have been paid by the applicant electronically.
Administrative process at District Court
Electronic cassation applications can be submitted up until the final deadline date of the legal remedy which is no later than 11.59pm local time. On the day that the court receives notification about the paid relevant cassation fees, the registrar of the referring court will then issue an electronic deed of cassation statement and register the cassation application through the court information system (SIP).2
The registrar will then deliver the cassation request to the respondent within five calendar days after receiving the relevant application. The applicant must submit their cassation memorandum within 14 calendar days at the latest after the receipt of the relevant cassation application. The respondent may then submit a counter-cassation memorandum within 14 calendar days after receipt of the relevant cassation memorandum.
The registrar at the applying court must ensure that all the necessary documentation (eg, claim, power of attorney, copy of the relevant district court decision and cassation memorandum) is uploaded to the SIP and must also deliver the cassation court documents to the Supreme Court no later than 60 calendar days since the application was being filed or within three calendar days after the deadline to view or examine the case files.
Administrative process at Supreme Court
The applying court is responsible for delivering complete and clear documents to the Supreme Court. If any relevant documents cannot be digitised or if the documents are deemed incomplete, then the applying court must fulfill the request (ie, deliver the physical copy or submit the incomplete documents) within three calendar days from that request was submitted through SIP. Furthermore, if the presiding judges deem that there are any unclear documents, then they can ask the applying court to re-upload the documents within three calendar days since that request.
Judge decision, judge determination and its copy
Judge decision or determination will be signed manually by the judges and registrar then will be conveyed electronically. The copy of the judge decision or determination will be electronically signed before uploaded to the SIP.
Judicial review
The procedure for the administrative submission and proceeding of the judicial review electronically on Decree No. 207/2023 has a similar procedure to the procedure for filing a cassation that has been explained previously, namely:
- registration of judicial review;
- administrative process at the District Court;
- administrative process at the Supreme Court; and
- judge decision, judge determination and its copy.
The judicial review application via e-court must be submitted along with the judicial review memorandum. If there is no memorandum, the application will not be processed.
If the judicial review is being applied on the ground that the new evidence (novum) has emerged, then the applicant must include an electronic document of that new evidence when submitting the application for the judicial review. The novum discovery oath-taking hearing will be chaired by the chairman of the applying court, assisted by an appointed registrar. The novum document will be compared with its original before the court.
Observation
Since the issuance of Regulation No. 6/2022 and Decree No. 207/2023, requests for cassation and judicial review for all types of cases should be submitted electronically. Regulation No. 6/2022 even stipulates that if the parties submit a request for cassation or judicial review directly to the applying court, the registrar of the applying court must assist the applicant to submit their application electronically.
Comment
Through these policies, the Supreme Court has shown its commitment to ensuring access to simple, rapid and affordable court proceedings to the public. To improve the e-court system, it would be preferable for the Supreme Court to not only issue policies to set guidelines, but also focus on enhancing the functionality of the e-court application that operates the e-court system.
For further information on this topic please contact Eddy Leks or Ardelia Ignatius at Leks&Co by email (eddy.leks@lekslawyer.com or ardelia@lekslawyer.com). The Leks&Co website can be accessed at www.lekslawyer.com.
Sources
- The Supreme Court and PT Pos Indonesia signed a Registered Letter Documents Delivery Cooporation Agreement on 22 May 2023.
- SIP is the entire information system provided by the Supreme Court to provide services to justice seekers which include administration, case services, and electronic trials. SIP includes the e-court, SIPP and SIAP application.
