Courts structure The Indonesian court system is set on a three-level court hierarchy: • First-level courts () based in the
municipalities (city or regency), where the courts in this level have original jurisdiction to hear cases, resolve disputes, and reach a verdict; • Second-level courts () based in the
provincial capital, where the courts in this level have appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals from the first-level courts; and • Third-level courts () based in the national capital
Jakarta, where the main court in this level, the Supreme Court, serve as the final court of appeals, although they also have original jurisdiction over certain matters. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court also have original jurisdiction over certain matters separate from the Supreme Court, but have no appellate jurisdiction.
Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia () is the highest court of law. It is the final court of appeal for criminal and civil verdicts made in the lesser courts, thus they are able to overrule lesser courts' verdicts. It resolves dispute on the matter of judicial jurisdiction, and hears request to review previous Supreme Court verdicts due to newly discovered evidence or due to judicial error. The latter legal action is known as "
Review of court decision" (, abbreviated into PK). Aside from administration of justice, the Supreme Court are tasked to nominate three people to fill the position for the justices of the Constitutional Court, reviews laws and regulations lower than Acts jointly enacted by the
DPR and the
President (
Judicial Review), and provide opinions as a constitutional requirement for the President before granting executive
pardon and legal rehabilitation of convicts. The Supreme Court is headed by the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia, currently by
Sunarto.
Constitutional Court The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia () rules over disputes specified in Article 24C of the
1945 Constitution, as well as other functions enshrined by Laws. It is formed in 2003 during the period, as the result of the Third Amendment of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court have jurisdiction over cases concerning: •
Constitutional review of a Law; • Disputes between state institutions regarding their constitutional competence and jurisdiction; • Disputes arising from electoral results, both national, provincial, and municipal elections; • Dissolution of political parties; and •
Impeachment process of the President and/or the Vice President, in which the Constitutional Court must rules whether the articles of impeachment submitted by the DPR to remove from office the President and/or the Vice President is proven or not proven, in order to proceed or not to proceed to the removal process. The current
Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia is
Suhartoyo, who have headed the Constitutional Court since November 2023.
Lesser courts There are four subdivisions of the lesser courts, consisting of the Public Courts, the Religious Courts, the State Administrative Courts, and the Military Courts.
Public Courts The Public Courts () consists of the first-level District Court () and the second-level High Courts (), after which further appeals go to the Supreme Court. They hear criminal and civil cases involving Indonesian citizens or foreign citizens in Indonesia, as well as Indonesian and foreign legal entities who are based in Indonesia or if they chose to have their case heard in Indonesian court. District Courts have original jurisdiction to hear cases within the
city and
regency, while High Courts have appellate jurisdiction at the
provincial level, based in the provincial capital. There are specialized courts formed within the system of first-level public courts, such as: •
Juvenile courts (), which function under special
juvenile criminal procedural system; • Human rights courts ( or ), which hear cases of
human rights violation conducted by the government or government officials; • Industrial relations courts (), which hear cases of
industrial relations dispute, industrial conflict of interests, prejudiced termination of employment, and resolving dispute between unions in the same workplace; •
Commercial courts () which hear cases of
corporate bankruptcy, debt suspension, intellectual property disputes, and bank liquidation; • Fishery courts () which hear cases of
fisheries crime – that is, illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing; and • Anti-corruption courts ( or ) which hear
cases of corruption, graft, bribery, money laundering, and other acts considered to be corruption crime.
Religious Courts The Religious Courts () are for
Muslim citizens to resolve civil matters, such as marriage, inheritance, and property donated for religious purposes (
waqf). They are the first-level Religious Court () and the second-level Religious High Court (). Despite the name, they do not hear cases concerning religions other that Islamic cases; Cases concerning civil cases of other religions are heard in the public courts. In
Aceh, special first-level Sharia Court () and second-level Provincial Sharia Court of Aceh () are vested with special authority, owing to Aceh's special status within Indonesia. These special courts, in addition to basic religious courts' authority, have jurisdiction over Islamic morality criminal cases (
Jinayat) regulated by local ordinances (
Qanun), such as public drunkenness, sales of alcoholic beverages, gambling, and other moral crimes incompatible with Islamic values. Under this system, the courts are also empowered to deliver punishments not available under Indonesian laws, such as whipping.
State Administrative Courts The State Administrative Courts () were established in 1986 intended to ensure that people would not be treated arbitrarily by government officials or institutions. Initially formed in 1981 as a specialized court under the public courts system, the State Administrative Courts were formalized under Law No. 5/1986 ('State Administrative Courts Act'). They rule in disputes involving the state officials or bodies, both within central and regional officials or institutions. The object of all state administrative proceedings are actions – proven with the issuance of a decision ( or ) – or lack of actions by the government, considered harmful against the interest of the citizens. The courts also hear cases which include civil servants against their superiors of the internal bureaucracy of the government itself. The state administrative courts are the first-level State Administrative Court () with original jurisdiction to hear state administrative disputes, and the second-level State Administrative High Court () with appellate jurisdiction from cases heard in the first-level court. The Supreme Court serves as the final court of appeal. There is one specialized court created within the system of the administrative courts – the
Tax Court (). Military Courts Military Courts () deal with criminal and military administrative cases involving members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. They are the first-level Military Court (, abbreviated into ) with original jurisdiction over cases regarding military personnel whose ranks are no higher than a captain, and the second-level High Military Court (, abbreviated into ) hear appeals against decisions of the first-level courts, as well as having original jurisdiction over cases involving military personnel with ranks of a major and above. Another second-level Primary Military Court (, abbreviated into ) hears appeals against decisions of the High Military Courts and also decides upon issues of jurisdiction of the various military courts. During armed conflict, Battlefield Military Court (, abbreviated into ) with wartime jurisdiction can be mobilized to hear criminal cases of military personnel and reach a verdict against said military personnel on the battlefield. == Judicial Commission ==