Sundanese couple wins lawsuit over marriage

Sundanese couple wins lawsuit over marriage

JAKARTA (JP): A couple, who married in a traditional Sundanese
ceremony last year, won their case yesterday against the East
Jakarta civil registry office which had refused to recognize
their marriage.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court ordered the civil
registry office to annul the Directorate General of Common
Administration and Regional Autonomy's letter rejecting the
couple's request for a marriage license. The letter was issued
Dec. 30 last year.

A. Gumirat Barna Alam and Susilawati married on Oct. 1 last
year in a traditional West Java ceremony. The two were not
members of any of the five religions recognized by the state.
They called themselves followers of the "faith toward God," a
non-denominational faith.

They registered their marriage two days before it was
annulled.

Presiding judge Marina Sidabutar said the civil registry
office had broken the law.

"Only a court has the right to annul a registration of
marriage," she said.

Marina said that marriages could be recognized if they were
based on customary laws.

She said that a marriage between adherents of "faith toward
God" was not recognized, but marriage according to customary laws
was recognized.

"The marriage of Gumirat and Susilawati is legal according to
customary law, though it is not based on government laws, so
their marriage has complied with registration conditions," Marina
said.

In a defense statement, lawyers for the civil registry office
said that their client had refused to register the plaintiffs'
marriage because it was not in accordance with the 1974 Marriage
Law.

Article 2 of the law stipulates that a "marriage is legal if
it is carried out according to the laws of the couple's religion
and faith".

"Sundanese (marriage) custom is not a religion but a culture,"
the statement said.

Judge Marina said the clause "according to the laws of the
couple's religion and faith" meant that religions and faiths were
two different, non-interchangeable terms.

Last September, a couple of Chinese descent, Budi Wijaya and
Lanny Guito, who had married in a Confucianist ceremony in
Surabaya, East Java, lost their case against a local civil
registry office which had refused to recognize their marriage.

The Surabaya State Administrative Court ruled that the civil
registry office was abiding by government regulations when it did
not recognize the marriage because Confucianism was not one of
the country's five recognized religions. (05)