Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Children born to couples in unregistered marriages, known as nikah siri, will now be able to have the names of their fathers recorded on their birth certificates and demand inheritance rights as stipulated under the new Civil Administration Law.
In an amendment to the 2006 Civil Administration Law, endorsed last month, the government and the House of Representatives agreed to scrap a clause in the law saying that only children born to couples in registered marriages could have birth certificates and needed be recognized by their legal fathers. The Home Ministry is currently drafting a regulation to implement the new policy.
"The newly enacted law orders the recognition of children born of a religious marriage that may not have been registered as a civil marriage," Home Ministry spokesman Restuardy Daud said over the phone on Wednesday.
"With such recognition, a child born of nikah siri has a civil relationship with the father. It means, of course, they can have their civil rights, including inheritance."
He said the regulation would be completed soon. The law sets a one-year deadline for the government to issue the regulation.
Calls for recognition of children born of out of wedlock and unregistered marriages came after the Constitutional Court ruled last year that the civil rights of children born out of wedlock should be recognized by their biological fathers.
Judges at the court made their decision in response to a judicial review filed by dangdut singer Machica Mochtar to overturn the 1974 Marriage Law, which stipulates that only mothers and their immediate family bear responsibility for children born out of wedlock.
The 1974 Marriage Law deemed children born from a nikah siri as born out of wedlock and grouped with children born out of adultery, infidelity or cohabitation. Restuardy made it clear that the policy only applied to children born from a religious or civil marriage and not from adultery or cohabitation.
Machica had an unregistered marriage with Moerdiono, a former minister of the New Order era. The 42-year-old singer filed the review to uphold the civil rights of her 16-year-old son, who was fathered by Moerdiono.
The ruling also ordered the amendment of the Marriage Law to include provisions for civil relationships with fathers that could be established using science and technology, witness testimony or other evidence recognized by the country's legal system.
The National Child Protection Commission (KPAI) estimated that 50 percent of Indonesian children did not have birth certificates, due to various reasons including unregistered marriages. The National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) chair Arist Merdeka Sirait said he lauded the move.
"I have learned about [the revised law]. This recognition is a breakthrough for our children. Such recognition, such civil rights, are a child's fundamental rights. Other rights, for example, education, will not be easier to obtain" he said. "It is also good for their state of mind."
KPAI deputy chairwoman Latifah Iskandar, however, said her office had yet to be informed about the new recognition. Yet, she said, the government through the Home Minsitry, should abide by the court's ruling.