The Urgency of Restorative Justice on Medical Dispute Resolution in Indonesia

Abstract

Medical disputes in Indonesia are regulated by a host of laws. The important question that needs to be asked, however, is whether those laws have guaranteed justice for patients and doctors. This study aims to analyze the urgency of restorative justice in medical disputes. It explores secondary data and is normative legal research. The data was gathered through library research consisting of data collection activities based on several publications. This study focuses on legal principles with a doctrinal approach. It concludes that restorative justice is urgent to use in medical, criminal, and civil cases. This is evident in the will of the Health Law which prioritizes mediation as the first mechanism before being brought to trial. Furthermore, the use of restorative justice in medical dispute resolution is driven by the presence of three conditions: First is structural challenges among law enforcers and their limited capabilities in dealing with complex medical cases; Second is the condition of Indonesian correctional institutions which is overburdened and unable to provide maximum output, and the third is the relatively low number of Indonesian health workers.