Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – They do not have law degrees or expensive suits, and even go to court barefoot.

But Jakarta's "ghost lawyers", or "barefoot lawyers" as they are sometimes called, have been scoring significant victories in the courts against goliaths such as the Jakarta administration and the state oil company.

These "ghost lawyers" are ordinary citizens – pedicab drivers and vendors, for example – who are going to court to represent hundreds of residents in class action suits.

Ms Musimah, a 50-year-old vegetable seller, and nine co-complainants filed a class action suit recently against the Jakarta government, the Jakarta police force and the Jakarta military command for the unlawful eviction of 15,000 pedicab drivers, mobile food vendors and street singers from the capital's streets last year.

The complainants wore sandals and some even turned up barefoot, said lawyer Paulus Mahulete from Jakarta's Legal Aid, a non-government organisation.

Tommy Suharto's trial opened in that same central Jakarta court the previous day, though the lawyers were decked out in suits.

Nevertheless, the judge ruled in favour of the "ghost lawyers" and even scolded the defendants. "Stop evicting poor people without the proper legal procedures," said Judge I Nengah Suriada.

The judge found that the Jakarta administration had evicted thousands of street vendors and pedicab drivers without the proper permits. Many were deprived of their means of livelihood by the clean-up, which was often violent.

"I am happy we won, but the government hasn't heard that we won because they still carry out these operations against traders and pedicab drivers," said Ms Musimah, who lives in East Jakarta with her pedicab-driver husband and eight children.

The team of "ghost lawyers" often lack the polish of their properly trained counterparts, says Mr Mohammad Berkah Gamulya, an activist working with the drivers and traders. "They didn't really use legal language, they would even use slang," he said. "When they were explaining things they would go around and around, then go off on a tangent, so sometimes the judge would say to them, 'Please get to the point'."

But the barefoot lawyers often get training from lawyers such as Mr Paulus, and they would role-play before each court hearing. In the latest case on behalf of the pedicab drivers, Mr Paulus said the "ghost lawyers" were sufficiently competent that they did not need lawyers present during every court sitting.

He added that the cases are signs that at least the lower courts are handing out rulings that are not influenced by the defendants' social class.

The success of these class action suits has affected Governor Sutiyoso, who is being sued by several non-government groups for neglect during the disastrous floods that hit Jakarta in February.

The governor has rejected a government lawyer and is hiring two famous lawyers who are also defending Tommy Suharto. The case will open this week.