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Aceh's dual system leads to murky jurisprudence: Study
An independent study on the application of sharia in Aceh has found that the dual application of the Criminal Code and the province's Qanun Jinayat frequently results in judicial murkiness.
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A Christian man convicted for gambling, a criminal offence under Aceh's sharia law, is publicly caned on Feb. 8, 2021 in Banda Aceh, Aceh. Those sentenced to public caning can often languish for months in prison, as the local judicial system prefers carrying out the punishment in groups. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
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otwithstanding the enforcement of sharia law and the Qanun Jinayat (Islamic criminal code) in Aceh, the local courts have remained under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, which has led to complicated judicial developments in the province, an independent study has found.
The Aceh Project by Waskito Jati takes a data-driven approach to the implementation of sharia in the province, which involved fieldwork over two separate periods between 2017 and 2020. The activist and researcher worked primarily with women’s rights group Solidaritas Perempuan Aceh (Aceh Women’s Solidarity) and the Banda Aceh Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Banda Aceh) on his study, with funding from his alma mater, Harvard University.
Aceh adopted Qanun Jinayat in 2014 under a specific authority it was granted by the central government in Law No. 18/2001 on Special Autonomy in Aceh, which was subsequently replaced by Law No. 11/2006 on the implementation of sharia in Aceh.
Aceh is the only province in the country that formally practices sharia law, under which the Qanun Jinayat covers criminal offenses and punishments that are different to Indonesia’s secular laws.
Aceh is the only province in the country that formally practices sharia law, under which the Qanun Jinayat codified and revised several bylaws banning the consumption of alcohol, gambling and khalwat (dating in secluded places), with some carrying harsher punishments than the previous bylaws.
According to The Aceh Project, however, some aspects of Indonesian law carried over into the province’s Islamic legal system, as the local administration found it effective to apply both.
Read also: Q&A: What you need to know about sharia in Aceh
