Prohibition of Interfaith Marriage Registration: A Critique of Judicial Policy

Darryl Evan Brouwer (Faculty of Law, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia)
Muhammad Akrom Ramadhan (Faculty of Law, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia)
Ananda Lestari (Faculty of Law, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia)

Lex Journal : Kajian Hukum dan Keadilan
Vol 10 No 2 (2026): In Progress

In 2023, the Supreme Court enacted the Supreme Court Circular Letter Number 2 of 2023 on Guidelines for Judges in Adjudicating Cases of Marriage Registration Requests between People of Different Religions and Beliefs (SEMA 2/2023). The SEMA 2/2023 prohibits judges from granting applications for the registration of interfaith marriages between individuals of different religions and beliefs. This judicial policy does not cohere with the reality that some religions in Indonesia do not strictly prohibit interfaith marriage. Thus, such judicial policy unjustifiably infringes on the human rights of the citizens. This research is conducted to analyze the inconsistency of the SEMA 2/2023 with the Marriage Law, the reality of religious diversity in Indonesia, and the human rights principle. This research is conducted as normative legal research using the statutory and conceptual approach. The finding of this research is that the SEMA 2/2023 is in line with the Marriage Law, the reality of religious diversity in Indonesia, and the human rights principle. Thus, the judge shall not enforce the SEMA 2/2023.