On 7 August 2015, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia issued Regulation No. 2 of 2015 concerning Procedures on Settlement of Small Claim ("Perma No. 2 of 2015").

The small claim proceedings consist of the following stages:

  1. Registration of the case;
  2. Examination of the completeness of small claim;
  3. Designation of the judge and designation of substitute clerk;
  4. Designation of first date of hearing and summons of parties;
  5. Examination of the case and initiation of amicable settlement;
  6. Substantiation;
  7. Pronouncement of court judgment.

The small claim hearing will be led by a sole judge who is appointed by the chairman of the court. The small claim proceedings must be settled within 25 (twenty-five) days after the first hearing.

Perma No. 2 of 2015 requires a small claim value up to IDR 200,000,000, and provides that the scope of small claim includes the case of breach of contract and/or unlawful act, with exceptions for:

  1. A case where its dispute settlement is conducted through special court, as provided by the laws and regulations (e.g. bankruptcy case, intellectual property case and etc.);
  2. Dispute on land rights.

Perma No. 2 of 2015 provides that the parties involved in the small claim proceedings consist of one plaintiff and one defendant. Additionally, the parties must not be more than one party each, unless they have the same legal interest. The plaintiff and the defendant must domicile in the same court jurisdiction. In the event the defendant's domicile is unknown, the small claim cannot be submitted. The plaintiff and the defendant are obliged to attend every court hearing with or without an attorney.

The plaintiff must submit its claim at the clerk office of the court by filling the form provided by the clerk office. The claim form shall consist of a) identity of the plaintiff and the defendant; b) brief explanation of the case position; and c) the plaintiff's prayer. The plaintiff must submit the claim form along with the legalized written evidence.

In the process of the examination of the completeness of small claim, the judge will consider the above requirements to assess whether or not the claim can be considered as small claim. If the claim cannot be categorized as a small claim, the judge will issue a decree that the examination process be terminated. There is no available legal remedy against the judge's decree of termination.

In the hearing, the judge will take an active role to conduct several actions, as follows:

  1. To provide a proper explanation regarding the procedure of small claim to the parties;
  2. To try and get the parties to reach a settlement, including to provide advices to the parties to conduct an out of court settlement;
  3. To guide the parties in the process of substantiation;
  4. To explain the available legal remedy to the parties.

Unlike the examination in normal civil procedure laws, the examination of small claim do not recognize provisional claim, motions, reconvention, intervention, reply, rejoinder or statement of conclusion.

If the plaintiff's small claim is acknowledged or is not rebutted by the defendant, the substantiation process is not needed. If the plaintiff's small claim is rebutted, the judge will commence the substantiation process in accordance with the prevailing procedural laws.

After the pronouncement of the judgment, the judge must inform the parties about their rights to submit an objection against the judgment. The petition for objection against the judgment must be submitted to the chairman of the court no later than 7 (seven) days after the pronouncement of judgment or after the notification of the judgment along with the memorandum of objection. The petitioner for objection must fill in the form which is provided by the clerk office. If there is no objection from the parties, the judgment will be final and binding.

The court will send a notification of objection to the petitionee no later than 3 (three) days after the petition for objection is submitted. If the petitionee decides to counter the memorandum of objection, the counter memorandum of objection must be submitted no later than 3 (three) days after the notification of objection.

One (1) day after the required documents for objection are deemed complete, the chairman of the court will stipulate the panel of judges to examine and judge the petition for objection. The panel of judges shall conduct the examination of the case based on a) the first instance of judgment and the small claim; b) the petition for objection and memorandum of objection; and c) counter memorandum of objection.

No later than 7 (seven) days after the stipulation of the panel of judges, the panel of judges will pronounce its judgment. No later than 3 (three) days after the pronouncement of the judgment, the notification of the judgment will be conveyed to the parties. The judgment on the objection process is final and binding.

The final and binding judgment is implemented voluntarily by the parties. In the event a party does not comply with the final and binding judgment, the judgment is enforced in accordance with the prevailing civil procedural laws.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.