Jakarta – Taking an industrial dispute to the labor court will figure at the end of a new, expedited process of seeking a settlement.

If a dispute does reach the court after negotiations and mediation have failed, judges will be obliged to study cases registered with the court within seven days and required to finish trying them within 30 days.

"There will be no registration fees and, in court hearings, workers can be accompanied or represented by labor unions, while employers can be accompanied and or represented by Apindo," the director of law and court affairs at the Supreme Court, Suparno, said recently, referring to the Indonesian Employers Association.

He added that either of the conflicting sides could hire professional lawyers at their own expense to accompany them in arguing their cases. A panel of judges presided over by a career judge is allowed to summon witnesses or expert witnesses to testify in the hearings.

Clerks are obliged to convey court verdicts to the Supreme Court chief justice within 14 days if an appeal is lodged. The Supreme Court would then be required to accept or reject all appeal motions within 30 days. Conflicting sides are required to comply with the Supreme Court's verdicts as absolute.

The hope is that many of the disputes will be settled before reaching the labor court through the required bipartite negotiations, mediation and conciliation phases (parties also have the option of seeking abitration instead of the final recourse of the court).

Within days after the emergence of an industrial dispute, the law requires it be submitted for bipartite negotiations. Any agreement to settle the dispute must by signed by the respective parties and registered with the labor court. The registration is essential to ensure that the parties do not renege on their part of the agreement.

If conflicting sides fail to reach agreement in 30 days, they are required to seek mediation. Appointed government mediators are allowed to call witnesses, including expert witnesses, in the attempt to resolve the dispute in the allotted 30-day period. If they fail, they are required to go professional conciliators.

The conflicting sides could go to arbitrators or directly to the labor court if they fail to settle their dispute through conciliation.

Government mediators, conciliators and arbitrators who fail to complete their tasks in accordance with the law will be given administrative sanctions, including the revocation of their license to practice.

Witnesses or expert witnesses who reject a summons by conciliators, arbitrators and the court to testify face a maximum prison term of six months as well as a Rp 50 million (US$4,900) fine.