PERAN HAKIM SEBAGAI PELINDUNG HAK PEREMPUAN DALAM KASUS WALI ADHAL DI PENGADILAN AGAMA KABUPATEN KEDIRI (Putusan Nomor 375/Pdt.P/2025/PA.Kab.Kediri)

Abstract

This study examines the role of judges as protectors of women’s rights in cases of wali adhal, identifies the legal considerations employed by judges in determining wali adhal, and explains how a gender justice perspective is applied in the Decision of the Religious Court of Kediri Regency Number 375/Pdt.P/2025/PA.Kab.Kediri. The research adopts a qualitative method with a juridical-empirical approach. Data were collected through an analysis of court decisions, interviews with the judges who handled the case, and a review of relevant statutory regulations and Islamic legal literature.Furthermore, the findings indicate that the panel of judges in the decision actively examined the substance of the guardian’s refusal, even though the guardian did not appear before the court. The judges affirmed that a guardian’s refusal without a valid shar‘i justification fulfills the elements of wali adhal as stipulated in Article 23 of the Compilation of Islamic Law. Consequently, the authority of guardianship was transferred to the wali hakim as a form of legal protection for a woman’s right to marry. The judges’ considerations were not limited to juridical aspects and formal evidentiary requirements but also took into account public welfare (maslahah) and the prevention of harm (mafsadah), in line with the principles of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah and a gender justice perspective. This study aims to enhance understanding of the legal mechanisms involved in determining wali adhal in the Religious Courts, particularly regarding the role of judges in safeguarding women’s right to marry and the manner in which the principles of Islamic law, positive law, and gender justice are upheld in the practice of family law adjudication in Indonesia.

Keywords: The Role of Judges, Protectors of Women's Rights, Religious Courts, and Guardians of the Adhal