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Marriage Law under scrutiny

First effort: Alumni of the University of Indonesia, Anbar Jayadi (right) and Damian Agata Yuvens, share a light moment after attending a hearing on the judicial review of the 1974 Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Fri, September 5, 2014

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Marriage Law under scrutiny First effort: Alumni of the University of Indonesia, Anbar Jayadi (right) and Damian Agata Yuvens, share a light moment after attending a hearing on the judicial review of the 1974 Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday. Both Anbar and Damian and three of their peers have challenged the law on marriage, especially Article 2, paragraph 1 regarding interreligious marriages. JP/DON" border="0" height="341" width="512">First effort: Alumni of the University of Indonesia, Anbar Jayadi (right) and Damian Agata Yuvens, share a light moment after attending a hearing on the judicial review of the 1974 Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday. Both Anbar and Damian and three of their peers have challenged the law on marriage, especially Article 2, paragraph 1 regarding interreligious marriages. JP/DON

Four graduates and a student of the University of Indonesia’s School of Law filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court on Thursday against an article in the Marriage Law that creates challenges for citizens of different religions to marry one another.

According to Damian Agata Yuvens (24), Rangga Sujud Widigda (25), Varida Megawati Simarmata (23), Anbar Jayadi (21) and Luthfi Saputra (22), Article 2, paragraph 1 of Law No. 1/1974 on marriage forces everyone to apply religious teachings in order to get married.

Article 2, paragraph 1 of the law defines a marriage as legitimate as long as it is conducted in line with the rituals of the religion to which both the bride and groom adhere.

“The article gives nobody a choice as to whether to apply provisions of religion in their marriage or not,” Damian told court judges.

He added that by forcing people to choose a specific religion as a basis for their marriage, the article violated Article 28E of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that everyone has the liberty to worship and practice their religion of choice.

He said further that the article allowed different treatment of people with different religions.

“This article is against our Constitution and we demand that the judges declare that it no longer has any legal power,” Damian said, citing Article 28D of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that every person has an equal right to recognition, security, protection and legal certainty.

Stigma still surrounds couples with different religions, with many families forcing their children to choose between breaking up or converting to one of the religions.

The Marriage Law actually neither suggests nor prohibits marriages between people of different religions, which has created the opportunity for families to force religious uniformity within a couple.

The law, however, regulates that couples should be married in religious ceremonies and register their marriages at the civil registry office.

Couples with different religions usually resort to performing their wedding ceremonies based on a religion, before seeking civil unions to legitimize their marriages.

Catholic churches can marry couples with different religions and help to proceed civil union certificates for the couples.

  • The law forces everyone to apply religious teachings in order to get married
  • Some mixed-religion couples resort to performing wedding ceremonies based on a religion, before seeking civil unions

Jakarta-based Paramadina University offers another alternative for couples with different religions by holding Islamic wedding ceremonies and later helping to proceed civil unions.

Another petitioner in the judicial review, Anbar, said that the disputed article had forced a lot of people, whose different religions prohibited them from marrying one another, to exploit any available legal avenues, such as getting married overseas or resorting to customary law for the marriage.

“There are a lot of couples who face difficulties getting married here because of their different religions. Some of them choose to sneak past the law by switching religions only few days before they get married and then returning to their original religion after that,” Anbar said.

Anbar added that as petitioners, they were not trying to eliminate the aspect of religion from marriage.

“We just find that this law has the potential to violate people’s rights to adhere to their chosen religion and to bypass religious wedding rituals,” she said.

Commenting on the request, court Justice Arief Hidayat told the petitioners that even if they had filed the judicial review based on good intentions, they should be aware that the Indonesian population tends to be more religious than secular in its thinking.

“Based on our Constitution, Indonesia is not a Muslim country, but we are clearly not a secular country. Our foundation is Pancasila, which stipulates that faith in One Almighty God should be applied to our social lives,” Arief said.

He added that as a student and graduates of law, the petitioners should also provide an alternative solution in the judicial review, because if the court decided to revoke the article, all marriages in Indonesia would lack sacred grounds.

“Do you want the state to interpret marriage merely as a civil agreement between a man and a woman?” Arief asked. (idb)

First effort:: Alumni of the University of Indonesia, Anbar Jayadi (right) and Damian Agata Yuvens, share a light moment after attending a hearing on the judicial review of the 1974 Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday. Both Anbar and Damian and three of their peers have challenged the law on marriage, especially Article 2, paragraph 1 regarding interreligious marriages. (JP/DON)

F

span class="inline inline-center">First effort: Alumni of the University of Indonesia, Anbar Jayadi (right) and Damian Agata Yuvens, share a light moment after attending a hearing on the judicial review of the 1974 Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday. Both Anbar and Damian and three of their peers have challenged the law on marriage, especially Article 2, paragraph 1 regarding interreligious marriages. JP/DON

Four graduates and a student of the University of Indonesia'€™s School of Law filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court on Thursday against an article in the Marriage Law that creates challenges for citizens of different religions to marry one another.

According to Damian Agata Yuvens (24), Rangga Sujud Widigda (25), Varida Megawati Simarmata (23), Anbar Jayadi (21) and Luthfi Saputra (22), Article 2, paragraph 1 of Law No. 1/1974 on marriage forces everyone to apply religious teachings in order to get married.

Article 2, paragraph 1 of the law defines a marriage as legitimate as long as it is conducted in line with the rituals of the religion to which both the bride and groom adhere.

'€œThe article gives nobody a choice as to whether to apply provisions of religion in their marriage or not,'€ Damian told court judges.

He added that by forcing people to choose a specific religion as a basis for their marriage, the article violated Article 28E of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that everyone has the liberty to worship and practice their religion of choice.

He said further that the article allowed different treatment of people with different religions.

'€œThis article is against our Constitution and we demand that the judges declare that it no longer has any legal power,'€ Damian said, citing Article 28D of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that every person has an equal right to recognition, security, protection and legal certainty.

Stigma still surrounds couples with different religions, with many families forcing their children to choose between breaking up or converting to one of the religions.

The Marriage Law actually neither suggests nor prohibits marriages between people of different religions, which has created the opportunity for families to force religious uniformity within a couple.

The law, however, regulates that couples should be married in religious ceremonies and register their marriages at the civil registry office.

Couples with different religions usually resort to performing their wedding ceremonies based on a religion, before seeking civil unions to legitimize their marriages.

Catholic churches can marry couples with different religions and help to proceed civil union certificates for the couples.

  • The law forces everyone to apply religious teachings in order to get married
  • Some mixed-religion couples resort to performing wedding ceremonies based on a religion, before seeking civil unions

Jakarta-based Paramadina University offers another alternative for couples with different religions by holding Islamic wedding ceremonies and later helping to proceed civil unions.

Another petitioner in the judicial review, Anbar, said that the disputed article had forced a lot of people, whose different religions prohibited them from marrying one another, to exploit any available legal avenues, such as getting married overseas or resorting to customary law for the marriage.

'€œThere are a lot of couples who face difficulties getting married here because of their different religions. Some of them choose to sneak past the law by switching religions only few days before they get married and then returning to their original religion after that,'€ Anbar said.

Anbar added that as petitioners, they were not trying to eliminate the aspect of religion from marriage.

'€œWe just find that this law has the potential to violate people'€™s rights to adhere to their chosen religion and to bypass religious wedding rituals,'€ she said.

Commenting on the request, court Justice Arief Hidayat told the petitioners that even if they had filed the judicial review based on good intentions, they should be aware that the Indonesian population tends to be more religious than secular in its thinking.

'€œBased on our Constitution, Indonesia is not a Muslim country, but we are clearly not a secular country. Our foundation is Pancasila, which stipulates that faith in One Almighty God should be applied to our social lives,'€ Arief said.

He added that as a student and graduates of law, the petitioners should also provide an alternative solution in the judicial review, because if the court decided to revoke the article, all marriages in Indonesia would lack sacred grounds.

'€œDo you want the state to interpret marriage merely as a civil agreement between a man and a woman?'€ Arief asked. (idb)

First effort:: Alumni of the University of Indonesia, Anbar Jayadi (right) and Damian Agata Yuvens, share a light moment after attending a hearing on the judicial review of the 1974 Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday. Both Anbar and Damian and three of their peers have challenged the law on marriage, especially Article 2, paragraph 1 regarding interreligious marriages. (JP/DON)
First effort: Alumni of the University of Indonesia, Anbar Jayadi (right) and Damian Agata Yuvens, share a light moment after attending a hearing on the judicial review of the 1974 Marriage Law at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta on Thursday. Both Anbar and Damian and three of their peers have challenged the law on marriage, especially Article 2, paragraph 1 regarding interreligious marriages. (JP/DON)

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