In one of her earliest publications Keebet von Benda-Beckmann examined how villagers in West Sumatra engaged strategically in forum shopping and with shopping forums under conditions of legal pluralism. The insights in her article how this influenced the power constellation in the village have inspired many researchers to look at the interplay between justice seekers and forums for dispute resolution in a plural legal landscape, and how in this process authority is produced. Our article builds on Keebet’s work, looking at forum shopping in cases of sexual offences in Gayo (Aceh). We discuss how the post-conflict reform of criminal law in Aceh has led to a state-sanctioned condition of legal pluralism consisting of national law, customary (adat) law and Aceh jinayat (Acehnese Islamic criminal law). Village officials, human rights activists, police and prosecutors channel crimes into the legal system that best suits their goals – sometimes in conformity with, sometimes in violation of the formal rules of jurisdiction. The result is a new balance of power between these actors, in which – surprisingly – adat officials and police have gained most from the introduction of Aceh jinayat. However, the introduction of state legal pluralism has not produced competition between the constitutent legal systems, but rather expanded the potential for more differentiated responses to sexual offences in a society characterized by profoundly conservative values.
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