The Politics of Legal Pluralism in Indonesia: The State's Rational Approach to Islamic Law and Adat

The state's attitude towards legal pluralism in Indonesia has remained basically unchanged since independence. For the last six decades the state has been the dominant force in regulating legal pluralism. This may be a logical consequence of the civil law system embraced so far- the Dutch colonial civil law system inherited from the Dutch East Indies - which renders the institution of law inseparable from the state. As a result, the creation and establishment of law are understood more as a process that occurs through state legislation, while creative processes that take place beyond the state are certain to be rejected. Although in practical terms dialogue between state and society is necessary in the process of law-making the final decision is the prerogative of the state. This is the teaching behind the ideology of state positivism. The government of Indonesia has prescribed that while the state upholds the principle of legal pluralism it will always be the sole institution in the process of legal catalization and legislation. Seen from the framework of legal pluralism this strategy is known as "state law pluralism", whereby legal pluralism in a nation-state is possible as long as the state is the sole agent of law-making (Griffiths 1986: 1; Woodman 1999: 3-5)