Jakarta West Prosecutor's Office holds free mass marriage validation, providing legal certainty for couples
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta West District Prosecutor’s Office (Kejari Jakbar) held a mass marriage validation event to assist residents bound only by unregistered religious marriages at the Kejari Jakarta Barat office on Friday.
Head of Kejari Jakbar, Nurul Wahida Rifal, stated that the programme aims to provide legal certainty for married couples so that their rights can be fulfilled.
“Administrative and legal issues regarding marriage remain one of the challenges faced by some communities, particularly in the Jakarta West area,” Nurul said in her speech at the Kejari Jakarta Barat office on Friday.
According to her, the absence of official marriage registration has legal implications that can disadvantage the public, from the legal status of husband and wife to the fulfilment of children’s rights.
“The failure to officially register a marriage can impact various legal aspects, such as children’s civil rights and access to population administration services that cannot be obtained because the marriage validity has not been recorded,” Nurul said.
In this mass marriage programme involving 26 couples, Kejari Jakarta Barat acted as a facilitator bridging residents with relevant agencies, from the Religious Court, the DKI Jakarta Population and Civil Registry Office (Disdukcapil), to the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA).
Several couples who had married religiously or through unregistered unions were found never to have processed their marriage legality due to concerns over costs and administrative complexity.
“The reasons are, first, I still have a Javanese ID card, and second, economic issues. So, I was afraid to handle it because I thought it would cost a lot of money. I thought as a layperson, you have to pay at the KUA, but here everything is free,” revealed Rizky.
Salsabila Shofia (20), a resident of Jembatan Besi, Tambora, Jakbar, experienced something similar; she admitted to having an unregistered marriage in 2025 due to age restrictions when reporting to the KUA.
The problem then arose when she gave birth to her child.
“When the baby was born, I wanted to make a Family Card (KK) and so on, but I couldn’t. Then the ward office people said there was this marriage validation, so we joined. Alhamdulillah, it’s really convenient, minimal cost, and from makeup to clothing, everything was provided, complete documents too,” Salsabila recounted.
She also advised fellow young people not to fear marriage.
“Don’t be afraid to get married, because marriage isn’t as scary as that. It just depends on the partner; the important thing is to be open with each other between husband and wife,” Salsabila added.