ANALYSIS OF ABSOLUTE COMPETENCE OF DISTRICT COURTS AND SYARI’AH COURTS IN ADJUDICATING JARIMAH OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN ACEH

Abstract

The District Court and Syari’ah Court (Mahkamah Syar’iyah) jurisdictions to deal with child sexual abuse cases have still overlapped. This issue generates legal uncertainty in the enforcement of Jinayat Law in Aceh. This study aims to analyze the resolution patterns over child sexual abuse cases in Aceh, the resolution patterns over child sexual abuse cases at District Courts, and the efforts to solve dualism issues of the courts in trying child sexual abuse cases in Aceh. This study employed a juridical-empirical method that attempts to analyze behaviors of law enforcement officials in handling sexual abuse cases in Aceh using case and statute approaches based on the rules and principles of law studies. The legal materials utilized in this study were Law, Qanun, Government Regulation, and Syari’ah Court and District Court Decisions. Data were analyzed qualitatively. The findings reveal that both District Courts and Syari’ah Courts still settle sexual abuse cases. The results also point out that the resolution patterns in adjudicating sexual abuse cases at District Courts are categorized into adult offenders and young offenders. The provisions stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) are applied for adult offenders, while the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Law is regulated for young offenders. The efforts to overcome dualism are generating new policies by the Supreme Court to delegate the authority to solve sexual abuse cases and other jinayat cases from District Courts to Syari’ah Courts, and the issuance of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Aceh Syari’ah Courts, Aceh Regional Police, Aceh High Prosecutor’s Office, and Aceh High Court governing the authorization limits over the settlement of jinayat cases.