BALI MAWACARA: IS A QUASI-COMMON LAW SYSTEM DEVELOPING IN BALINESE CUSTOMARY LAW?

Abstract

Internationally renowned as a tourist destination, the Indonesian Island of Bali displays a rich and colorful culture which has served as one of the many explanation for its global reach. Its primarily Hindu population is visibly seen through a rather invisible disposition that perpetuates itself through the Balinese customary legal system which influences daily life. This autochthonous legal system exists in plurality with the Indonesian state legal system. As with all legal systems, the Balinese customary law system is in a state of flux. This article will examine the foundational sources and purposes of authority in the Balinese customary law system and analyze the pressures of change upon that system. It will be argued that an embryonic quasi-common law system is developing within the opus of Balinese customary law system due to the recent formation of the Majelis Utama Desa Pakraman (Pakraman Primary Village Council) and the Bali Mawacara jurisprudence.