P

ak Jokowi, your new friends might say that the figures are normal, that Indonesians are a peace-loving people, that custom or adat helps a lot.

So they do not need justice, as it is inherent within them. That is all true; and also is so much nonsense. Indonesian society is mature, diverse, complex and assertive.

But surely, the large diverse cities of Jakarta and Surabaya, the industrial estates of Cibinong and Cikampek in West Java, filled with mixed migrant communities, generate their fair share of trouble and disagreements.

Are these not communities whose rights are violated every day? This is part of the supposedly articulate and assertive society that created reformasi, which overthrew military dictatorship and created the democratic republic. This is the society that chose a furniture salesman from Surakarta to become president. It is supposedly a gloriously vibrant, energetic and utterly modern society.

What is more, the figures suggest that actually Indonesians need far more justice than the institutions provide. Indonesians in the past actually brought more cases to court than nowadays '€” even though society was smaller, sometimes significantly so. The number of voluntary civil cases filed by Indonesians 20 years ago was significantly higher than it is now.

Even in the colonial period, Indonesians filed more than 30,000 voluntary civil cases in the colonial courts '€” twice the number filed now, even though there were only about 45 million Indonesians at the time.

The challenge going forward is to make the institutions of big justice deliver to common Indonesian citizens. The big institutions get the money, the staff and everything, but they have yet to provide what society needs.

The fact is, currently, regular Indonesian citizens cannot get their rights secured through the formal legal system. This applies in all domains: the administrative domain, labor, truly voluntary litigation and for the thousands of small corruption cases they are confronted with in their normal lives.

As far as the formal justice system goes, a contract cannot be enforced, an unpaid debt is forfeit, damage cannot be claimed, security cannot be realized, one'€™s investment is not recouped and small corruption goes uncorrected.

The reason is that the courts and law enforcement agencies remain unpredictable. And even when a court decision comes down, it cannot be enforced.

Enforcement of decision, which in many cases involve bailiffs, lawyers, and the police, is often ineffective, and the process is costly.

There is an enormous cost to this. Why do we have so many big courts and staff when there are so few cases? Might it not be better to have a smaller institutional apparatus with a bigger budget to provide proper service?

Another cost aspect is that the absence of small justice inflicts a huge cost on the country'€™s development. It increases unemployment, freezes the credit and securities/mortgage market, keeps businesses small, reduces investment and increases the cost of doing business.

This particularly affects micro- and medium-enterprises, which constitute the backbone of the Indonesian economy. Small entrepreneurs suffer the most when the institutions of big justice do not reach them. But then you must know this already, Mr. Jokowi, from your days as a businessman in Surakarta.

And finally, the danger of a situation in which big justice does not answer legitimate society'€™s needs is that society will drift away.

The number of court cases is very small, but even so, the trend over the years shows a further decline. There is a real danger that the state and its institutions are slowly losing credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the public. Until in the end, there will be nothing left but hope.

You are that hope, Mr. President-elect. You and the other good people you need to engage. You were elected by common Indonesians in a search for justice.

So it is fine to listen to the big words and the big institutions. But what matters now are the voices on the street that ask for the little things and small justice and answer their hope by making justice serve the common citizen.

Big corruption is bad and should be fought, but it is the small corruption which affects Indonesians most and shapes their perceptions.

Big justice is important, but unless the institutions answer the needs of common people, there will be resentment, anger, frustration and low-level violence; all of which will hobble Indonesia from achieving growth to its fullest potential. The challenge going forward is to deliver justice to common Indonesians.