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ATAM: Supreme Court chief justice Harifin A. Tumpa has inaugurated four new courts as the nation’s judiciary forges ahead with a plan to provide better service in every regency.

The new courts comprise the Tamiyang Layang and Batulicin District Courts in South Kalimantan and administrative courts in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands, and Serang, Banten.

Harifin said that the new courts were not established to encourage people to go to court to settle conflicts.

“[The Supreme Court] pushes for out-of-court settlements over conflicts. We encourage settlements through mediation to end problems in a positive way. Through mediation, problems are expected to end in win-win solutions. A legal decision may end differently,” he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the court in Batam on Friday.

Harifin said the government could only establish courts in 400 of the nation’s 530 regencies and municipalities due to budget constraints.

“In the past five years, [the Supreme Court] has only had a Rp 5 trillion [US$555 million] annual budget. Some 60 percent of it is set aside for employee remuneration. Only 35 percent is allocated for infrastructure construction,” he said.

“We want every regency or municipality to have court institutions, but I’m not sure if we can realize that in the immediate future because of limited funds,” he said.