Email this article Integrating Tradition into Legal Reform: Reconstructing the Role of Reconciliatory Customary Judges in Diversion Processes within the Interplay of Islamic, Customary, and National Law
Abstract
Juvenile cases in conflict with the law are ideally resolved through diversion, a restorative mechanism that prioritizes recovery, avoids stigmatization, and encourages participatory dialogue among stakeholders. However, in practice, diversion implementation in Indonesia often encounters systemic and cultural barriers, especially when relying solely on formal legal institutions. This study explores the role of Reconciliatory Customary Judges (RCJs) in Tana Toraja as culturally embedded mediators and reconstructs their potential function within the national diversion framework. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combined qualitative interviews with customary leaders (to parenge), religious figures, and law enforcement actors, alongside quantitative surveys conducted among community members. The empirical findings reveal that RCJs hold significant social legitimacy, drawn from their alignment with tongkonan kinship systems and aluk todolo norms of deliberation (musyawarah). Their mediation practices reflect Islamic principles of reconciliation (sulh) and complement the restorative justice goals of the Juvenile Criminal Justice System (UU-SPPA). The study identifies a legal pluralism in practice, wherein Islamic, customary, and national legal traditions converge. RCJs have proven effective in resolving community conflicts and are trusted across generational lines, making them ideal mediators in diversion cases. The results call for the institutionalization of RCJ roles across diversion stages, including police, prosecution, and judiciary levels, to enhance cultural responsiveness, legal legitimacy, and social restoration. This research offers a transformative framework for integrating localized wisdom into national legal reform. By recognizing RCJs as formal diversion mediators, Indonesia can bridge gaps between normative aspirations and socio-cultural realities, promoting a restorative justice system that is legally sound, culturally resonant, and constitutionally grounded
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Aibak, Kutbuddin, ‘Implementation of Maqāṣid Sharī’ah in Reform of Case Management of Violence against Women and Children’, De Jure: Jurnal Hukum Dan Syar’iah, 15 (2023), pp. 82–98, doi:10.18860/j-fsh.v15i1.20666
Alam, Arief Syahrul, and Ani Purwati, ‘Diversi Sebagai Wujud Kebijakan Pemidanaan Dalam Sistem Peradilan Pidana Anak Di Indonesia’, De Jure: Jurnal Hukum Dan Syar’iah, 7.2 (2015), doi:10.18860/j-fsh.v7i2.3524
Anatasia, Zulita, ‘Diversion Against Crime by Children Confronting the Law to Achieve Restorative Justice’, Pancasila and Law Review, 1.2 (2021), doi:10.25041/plr.v1i2.2120
Barnes, Jeffrey, ‘Contextualism: “The Modern Approach to Statutory Interpretation”’, University of New South Wales Law Journal, 41.4 (2018), doi:10.53637/prvr3704
Bukido, Rosdalina, and others, ‘Harmonization of Customary and Islamic Law in the Gama Tradition of the Muslim Mongondow Community of North Sulawesi’, Ijtihad : Jurnal Wacana Hukum Islam Dan Kemanusiaan, 22 (2022), pp. 239–54, doi:10.18326/ijtihad.v22i2.239-254
Chin, Jason M., and Kathryn Zeiler, ‘Replicability in Empirical Legal Research’, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 2021, doi:10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-121620-085055
Faidi, Achmad, ‘Reconstruction of the National Legal System: Study the Implementation of the Maqâsid al-Shari‘ah Theory’, AL-’ADALAH, 15.2 (2019), doi:10.24042/adalah.v15i2.3387
Fitriiono, Riska Andi, and others, ‘Formulation of Customary Criminal Law from the Perspective of Judges in Legal Findings’, Journal of Law and Sustainable Development, 11.11 (2023), doi:10.55908/sdgs.v11i11.759
Green, Rachael, and others, ‘Police Decision-Making with Young Offenders: Examining Barriers to the Use of Diversion Options’, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 53 (2019), p. 000486581987973, doi:10.1177/0004865819879736
Hangge, Dewy, Ishak Alfred Tungga, and A. Resopijani, ‘Wewenang Kepala Desa Sebagai Hakim Pendamai Dalam Menyelesaikan Sengketa Tanah Warisan Di Desa Kuimasi, Kecamatan Fatuleu, Kabupaten Kupang’, Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, 4.5 (2023), doi:10.59141/jist.v4i5.624
Hariyanto, Diah, and Gde Made Swardhana, ‘Optimalisasi Pelaksanaan Diversi Dalam Sistem Peradilan Pidana Anak Yang Berorientasi Pada Restorative Justice Di Kota Denpasar’, Jurnal Legislasi Indonesia, 18 (2021), p. 394, doi:10.54629/jli.v18i3.787
Hariyanto, Hariyanto, Muhammad Mukhlis, and Daud Rismana, ‘The Role and Authority of the Deputy Regional Head According to Islamic Principles within the Framework of Regional Government Law’, JURIS (Jurnal Ilmiah Syariah), 24 (2025), p. 13, doi:10.31958/juris.v24i1.12678
Knott, Eleanor, and others, ‘Interviews in the Social Sciences’, Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 2.1 (2022), doi:10.1038/s43586-022-00150-6
Laksana, Andri, and others, ‘Fiqh Jinayah’s Approach to Children Trapped in the Octopus of Narcotics Trafficing’, Jurnal Ilmiah Mizani: Wacana Hukum, Ekonomi Dan Keagamaan, 12 (2025), p. 309, doi:10.29300/mzn.v12i1.4888
Mukhlis, Muhammad, and others, ‘Regional Autonomy System: Delegation of Authority and Power of Regional Government in Indonesia in the Study of Fiqh Siyasah’, Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam, 9 (2024), pp. 505–26, doi:10.29240/jhi.v9i2.9709
——, ‘Regional Government Autonomy in Indonesia: The Ambiguity of the Federalism or Republic Model’, Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, 13 (2025), pp. 35–57, doi:10.33102/mjsl.vol13no1.760
Nur, Rafika, and Handar Subhandi Bakhtiar, ‘The Imposition of Sanctions for Children’, Hasanuddin Law Review, 6.2 (2020), doi:10.20956/halrev.v6i2.2493
Nurhakki, Nurhakki, Ahmad Sultra Rustan, and Muhammad Taufiq Syam, ‘The Habituation of Tongkonan Communication as Adhesives for Religious Harmony in Toraja People’, Jurnal Adabiyah, 21.1 (2021), doi:10.24252/jad.v21i1a10
Pakan, Marcelina Sanda Lebang, Maria Heny Pratiknjo, and Welly E Mamosey, ‘Rumah Adat “Tongkonan” Orang Toraja Kabupaten Tana Toraja Propinsi Sulawesi Selatan’, Holistik, 11.22 (2018)
Putry, Raihan, and Amrullah Amrullah, ‘Upaya Pendekatan Pola Diversi di Ranah Hukum Pidana Adat Bagi Anak Berkonflik dengan Hukum (Studi Di Kecamatan Kluet Tengah Aceh Selatan)’, Gender Equality: International Journal of Child and Gender Studies, 4.2 (2018), doi:10.22373/equality.v4i2.4534
S, Muliani, and others, ‘Reformulasi Syarat Pelaksanaan Diversi Dalam Sistem Peradilan Pidana Anak Di Indonesia’, Jurnal Pembangunan Hukum Indonesia, 5 (2023), pp. 358–73, doi:10.14710/jphi.v5i2.358-373
Safira, Martha Eri, Dewi Iriani, and Neneng Uswatun Hasanah, ‘The Criminal Cases of Children in Conflict With The Law: Litigation and Non-Litigation Resolutions’, Justicia Islamica, 17.2 (2020), pp. 281–98, doi:10.21154/justicia.v17i1.1711
Si Boro, Eprina Mawati, and others, ‘Efektivitas Penerapan Restorative Justice Dalam Sistem Peradilan Pidana Anak Di Indonesia’, JURNAL EKONOMI, BISNIS DAN HUMANIORA (EKSISHUM), 4.1 (2024), doi:10.63494/eksishum.v4i1.130
Sucipto, Hadi, and others, ‘Transformation of Public Trust in Restorative Justice by the Prosecutor’s Office: An Islamic and Social Law Approach in the Contemporary Era’, MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review, 3 (2024), pp. 364–87, doi:10.32332/milrev.v3i2.9938
Sumardi, Dedy, Mansari Mansari, and Maulana Albaba, ‘Restoratif Justice, Diversi Dan Peradilan Anak Pasca Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 110/Puu-X/2012’, Legitimasi: Jurnal Hukum Pidana Dan Politik Hukum, 11 (2022), p. 248, doi:10.22373/legitimasi.v11i2.16010
Syahr, Zulfia Hanum Alfi, and others, ‘The Role of Indigenous Peoples, Social Workers, and the Syar’iyah Court in Diversion of Children Perpetrators of Jinayah’, Al-Manahij: Jurnal Kajian Hukum Islam, 17.1 (2023), doi:10.24090/mnh.v17i1.7349
Takona, James P., ‘Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches / Sixth Edition’, Quality and Quantity, 2024, doi:10.1007/s11135-023-01798-2
Yunanto, Yunanto, ‘Menerjemahkan Keadilan Dalam Putusan Hakim’, Jurnal Hukum Progresif, 7 (2019), p. 192, doi:10.14710/hp.7.2.192-205
Zubaedah, Siti, Andi Tira, and Almusawir Almusawir, ‘Implementation of Diversion on Examining the Process of Children in Conflict with the Law’, Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun, 11 (2023), p. 221, doi:10.26811/peuradeun.v11i1.777
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.29300/mzn.v12i2.8439
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2025 Siti Zubaidah, Musakkir Musakkir, Syamsuddin Muchtar, Wiwie Heryani, Ahmad Masum
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Indexing by:
Jurnal Ilmiah Mizani is published by the Faculty of Sharia at Fatamawati Sukarno State Islamic University Bengkulu, Indonesia, and distributed under the permission of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License..
__________________________________________________
JURNAL ILMIAH MIZANI: WACANA HUKUM, EKONOMI DAN KEAGAMAAN
State Islamic University of Fatmawati Sukarno Bengkulu, Indonesia
Address: Address: Raden Fatah Street, Pagar Dewa, Bengkulu City 38211
Bengkulu, Sumatera, Indonesia