Gendering the Islamic judiciary: Female judges in the religious courts of Indonesia

Abstract

Compared to other Muslim countries, Indonesia has been the forefront, if not the frontrunner, in welcoming women to occupy a position as judges at the Islamic court. Despite few Indonesian women were already sitting at Islamic courtrooms and hearing cases on family law issues as early as in 1960s, it was only in 1989 that Indonesia fully accommodated female judges at the religious courts. From this onwards, female judges were recruited more than ever and began accessing a number of rights and positions like their male counterparts. This paper discusses female judge and women litigants at Islamic courts of Indonesia. This paper not only discusses the way in which women were recruited to be judges at the Indonesian Islamic courts, but also explores some factors leading Indonesian women to engage in the judicial practice. In addition, this paper looks at the way in which female judges exercise their authority to protect rights of disadvantaged women litigants. This paper argues that despite female judges have the same skills in interpreting law as their male colleagues do and that they have to some extent better gender sensitivity, they unfortunately have not maximised utilising these legal skills for the benefits of women litigants.