<![CDATA[This article examines Kakoroén in Tonsea Minahasa as a model of village-based hybrid justice rooted in customary law, deliberation, and the authority of Hukum Tua. The study aims to explain its institutional structure, dispute typology, case-triage logic, and the limits of escalation to state law within Indonesia’s plural legal order. This research employs a socio-legal qualitative design with a case study orientation. It combines normative juridical analysis of village customary justice with qualitative interpretation of supporting literature on legal pluralism, living law, customary dispute resolution, and hybrid justice. The findings show that Kakoroén operates through a structured institutional arrangement in which Hukum Tua performs organizational, mediatory, and adjudicative roles supported by village customary actors. Disputes are classified not by formal civil-criminal categories, but by their moral-social significance, substantive character, procedural pathway, and jurisdictional implications. Deliberation serves as the core restorative process, while titah adat functions as the authoritative customary decree that restores social balance and affirms community norms. The study further shows that Kakoroén becomes legally meaningful as hybrid justice when it differentiates disputes suitable for internal customary settlement from mixed cases requiring referral or coordination with state institutions. The article argues that Kakoroén contributes to the development of legal pluralism and village customary justice by offering a culturally legitimate, procedurally meaningful, and legally bounded model of dispute resolution.]]>
