Female judges at Indonesian religious courtrooms : opportunities and challenges to gender equality

In general, there were and are no serious challenges to the appointment of female judges to the Indonesian civil courts. During the early days of Indonesia’s independence, Muslim leaders seemed prone to focus attention on the Islamic institutions established by the state. Other legal institutions were considered to be parts of the secular state of Indonesia, so there were very few, if any, criticisms from the Islamic point of view. In contrast, the appointment of female judges to the Islamic courts was initially quite fierce, and it is for this reason that this chapter explores this topic in greater depth and breadth. The lack of criticism from those who share the Islamic point of view does not mean that the number of female judges in the civil courts exceeds that of their counterparts in the Islamic courts. For various reasons, which will be explained below, the percentage of women judges in both religious and non-religious courts fluctuates around 20 percent. This chapter is divided in two sections. In the first section, we discuss the way women were appointed to the position of judges in the Indonesian Islamic courts. In addition, this section highlights some factors that lead Indonesian women to first engage in the judicial practice. Section two looks to what extent female judges exercise their authority to protect the interests of female litigants. The data gathered for this section are based on interviews with 24 judges, both male (16) and female (8), of Tangerang (Banten now, and West Java previously), Serang (now in Banten and in West Java previously), and Aceh (Sumatra) Religious Courts of first-instance, and on observing court hearings and reading court rulings in three courthouses during 2009 and 2011. Within the chapter it is argued that despite equal educational and professional opportunities, and a strong presence of women in some important positions within Indonesian religious courtrooms, challenges to gender equality in both the low number of female judges and the way in which women judges deal with female litigants remain in place