Legal Literacy - This article will discuss what a paralegal is and their role in the legal world.

Understanding Paralegals

In general, a paralegal is one of the parties that can provide legal assistance in a broad sense other than advocates, lecturers and students. Paralegals have been recognized as part of legal aid organizations as providers of legal aid services in Indonesia based on Law (UU) Number 16 of 2011 concerning Legal Aid. Article 1 number 5 of the Regulation of the Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3 of 2021 concerning Paralegals in the Provision of Legal Aid states that:

“A paralegal is any person who comes from a community, society, or Legal Aid Provider who has attended Paralegal training, does not work as an advocate, and does not independently assist Legal Aid Recipients in court.”

Anyone can become a paralegal as long as they are not an Advocate and are willing to work voluntarily for the benefit of poor, vulnerable people or their own community. However, in Permenkumham Nomor 3 Tahun 2021, Article 4 explains that

“To be recruited as a Paralegal, the following requirements must be met:

  1. Indonesian citizen;
  2. be at least 18 (eighteen) years old;
  3. have the ability to read and write;
  4. not be a member of the Indonesian National Army, the Indonesian National Police, or the State Civil Apparatus; and
  5. meet other requirements determined by the Legal Aid Provider and not conflict with statutory regulations