Paralegalism and Legal Aid in Indonesia: Enlarging the Shadow of the Law

This report discusses the functioning of community-based paralegals in Indonesia, focusing on the paralegals trained under UNDP and World Bank projects. Indonesian legal aid organizations as well as international aid agencies employ paralegals as an instrument to strengthen the capacity of disadvantaged citizens to gain access to formal and informal justice systems. This report uses material and observations from two paralegal programs to discuss and analyze how and under what circumstances paralegals impact the way local disputes and grievances are addressed.

Combining a quantitative analysis of 338 reports of cases handled by paralegals and a qualitative study of case-handling by paralegals as well as non-paralegals, this report discusses the way paralegals operate in their communities, and it analyses under what circumstances paralegals can be most effective. With its focus on documenting the functioning of paralegals, this report is not an evaluation of the studied paralegal-programs, but offers a detailed perspective of their role in Indonesian legal aid provision.

This report was published in July 2011 as a collaborative effort funded by the Open Society Institute, United Nations Development Program, World Bank, Van Vollenhoven Institute, BAPPENAS and the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta. It will be included as a chapter in the forthcoming Six-Country Study on Paralegal Movements. 

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Uploaded on: Dec 11, 2013
Last Updated: Dec 16, 2015
Issues: Community Paralegals, Criminal Justice, Environmental Justice, Family, Gender-based violence, Governance, Accountability & Transparency, Labor & Employment, Legal Aid & Public Interest Law, Policy Advocacy, Traditional / Customary Justice, Women's Rights Tool Type: Laws, Policies & Legal Analysis, Reports / Research, Training Resources & Popular Education Regions: Southeast Asia Nature of Impact: Acquisition of Remedy / Entitlement / Information, Change in institutional / government practice, Change in law or policy, Citizen Action & Participation, Legal Knowledge and Skills, Rights Consciousness Institutions Engaged: Court, Elders, Local legislative representative, Media, NGOs, Private Sector Firms Evaluation Method: Case Studies, Interviews, Surveys