Khazanah Hukum
Vol. 8 No. 2 (2026): Khazanah Hukum

Ammotere Abbaji as a Local Wisdom-Based Restorative Justice Mechanism in Resolving Silariang Customary Crimes

Azwad Rachmat Hambali (Faculty of Law, Universitas Muslim Indonesia)
Zainuddin Zainuddin (Faculty of Law, Universitas Muslim Indonesia)
Salle Salle (Faculty of Law, Universitas Muslim Indonesia)
Muhammad Nur Ikram Fuady (School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool)



Article Info

Publish Date
08 Jun 2026

Abstract

Silariang marriage, in Bugis-Makassar customs, is considered a form of marriage that violates customary norms because it is conducted without the family's consent, especially from the woman's side. As a conflict resolution mechanism born from the local wisdom of the Bugis-Makassar community, Ammotere Abbaji serves as a tradition of apology performed by the Silariang couple to the woman's family to restore the fractured social relationship. This mechanism prioritises the restoration of Siri's honor, payment of customary fines, acknowledgement of marital status, and reintegration of the offender into the social order, emphasising reconciliation over retribution. The process is carried out through customary deliberations involving traditional leaders and the families of both parties, thereby reflecting the substantive principles of restorative justice. In the context of Indonesian positive law, Ammotere Abbaji is gaining increasingly open recognition, in line with the spirit of various regulations that accommodate the values of living law. However, this recognition demands more concrete systemic reforms, namely the establishment of special regulations that integrate customary mechanisms into the formal judicial process, the expansion of law enforcement officers' discretionary powers to transfer cases to communal forums, and the formation of certified customary mediation institutions with measurable rights protection standards. The novelty of this research lies in the first effort to scientifically construct Ammotere Abbaji as a model of restorative justice based on local wisdom, which possesses cultural legitimacy, structured procedures, and relevance in the reform of Indonesian criminal law (ius constituendum), thereby making an original contribution to the development of customary law and the criminal justice system in Indonesia.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

kh

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Social Sciences

Description

Khazanah Hukum is an international journal published three times a year by the Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati. This journal discusses aspects of law in the Indonesian context and the context of globalization. The languages used in this journal are Indonesian and English. Khazanah Hukum ...