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Sumali, SH. M. Hum (Photo: Special) |
In the final stages of the dispute over the results of the 2024 presidential election, several figures volunteered to become amicus curiae. This led many people to wonder, what exactly is amicus curiae? Linguistically, amicus curiae can be translated as "friend of the court." Amicus curiae is not a legal tradition in Indonesia but is part of the Roman legal tradition later adopted in the common law legal system. In this system, the law is considered to be alive in society, and thus, the community is deemed to understand the law.
Sumali, SH. M. Hum, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law (FH) at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), explains that institutionally or legally, amicus curiae refers to a person or group of people who have an interest in a legal case but are not parties to the case.
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"Amicus curiae provides opinions to the court or judge on how a case should be decided or resolved," he said.
In its submission, amicus curiae does not necessarily have to be done by lawyers. It can also be submitted by individuals with knowledge of a case whose testimony is valuable to the court. The testimony of amicus curiae can be in written form or orally in court proceedings.
The role of amicus curiae is only to provide views and opinions, not to argue against the arguments of the parties involved in the case. The views or testimony will then become one of the pieces of evidence outside the court for the judge to consider in deciding a case.
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"Although amicus curiae is not recognized in Indonesian legal rules, as long as it is beneficial, this practice can still be continued," Sumali concluded.
In a presidential dispute, amicus curiae can be submitted during the trial. In procedural law, the court can initiate calling parties who have the ability or capacity to explain a matter.
The testimony of amicus curiae is only for bolstering the judge's confidence and is not binding. Moreover, its truth cannot be tested. If used as a basis for evidence, the evidence becomes flawed. Therefore, evidence in court must always be subjected to scrutiny for its truth.
"Only the judge has the right to question the Friend of the Court; no other party is allowed. Unlike opinions in court, they will be tested by various parties," he explained. (dev/wil/fajr)
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