As previously mentioned, the presence of the Human Rights Court is a mandate from Article 104 paragraph (1) Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights which mandates that:

to try gross human rights violations, a human rights court is formed within the scope of the general court

And this mandate is manifested through the ratification of the Law Number 26 of 2000 concerning the Human Rights Court. This Law explains everything from the definition, scope of authority, to the procedural law used in the Human Rights Court. Meanwhile, regarding its position, as Article 2 states that the Human Rights Court is a special court within the general court and Article 3 paragraph (1) of the Law explains that the Human Rights Court is located in the regency or city area whose legal area covers the legal area of the district court concerned.

Division of Human Rights Courts

And it should also be noted that in Law No. 26 of 2000, the Human Rights Court is divided into two, namely the Human Rights Court and the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court. The Human Rights Court referred to as stipulated in Article 2 and Article 3 paragraph (1) of Law No. 26 of 2000 is authorized to examine and adjudicate cases of gross human rights violations.

Meanwhile, the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court is a special court that has the authority to examine and adjudicate cases of gross human rights violations that occurred before the enactment of Law No. 26 of 2000 concerning the Human Rights Court. This Ad Hoc Human Rights Court can only be formed on the proposal of the DPR with a presidential decree. Thus, not all events of gross human rights violations can be resolved through the Human Rights Court, but the time of the incident (tempus delicti) of the event must be seen, if it occurred in the year before the enactment of Law No. 26 of 2000, then the authority to adjudicate is the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court.