Ex Officio Judicial Authority And Women’s Post-Divorce Rights: A Maqāṣid Al-Sharīʿah Analysis of Indonesia’s Religious Courts

Ainul Mardhiah (Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia)
Ahmad Syukri Saleh (Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia)
Fauzi Muhammad (Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia)

Journal of Social Work and Science Education
Vol. 8 No. 1 (2027): Forthcoming Issue

The ex officio authority of judges in Indonesian Religious Courts is intended to safeguard wives’ post-divorce rights, yet its implementation remains inconsistent, creating legal uncertainty and undermining substantive justice. This study examines the legal construction and effectiveness of ex officio authority in determining wives’ post-divorce rights in the Religious Courts of Jambi Province through the framework of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah. Employing a normative-empirical legal research design with a qualitative approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with judges, court clerks, legal scholars, and litigants; analysis of court decisions; and field observations across Religious Courts in Jambi Province. The findings reveal three key gaps. First, although ex officio authority possesses strong juridical, philosophical, and sociological foundations, its application varies significantly across judicial panels due to divergent interpretations of judicial passivity versus substantive protection. Second, while the principles of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah particularly ḥifẓ al-nafs (protection of life), ḥifẓ al-māl (protection of property), and ḥifẓ al-nasl (protection of lineage) provide normative legitimacy for ex officio action, their translation into consistent judicial practice remains limited. Third, institutional weaknesses in enforcement mechanisms and low compliance by former husbands undermine the effectiveness of rights determination even when judges exercise ex officio authority. This study offers a novel conceptual framework integrating positive law, theories of justice, and Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah to reconstruct ex officio authority as a mechanism for achieving substantive gender justice. The proposed framework provides judges with operational guidelines that balance procedural requirements with the protection of vulnerable parties. These findings have implications for judicial training, policy reform, and the strengthening of women’s legal protection in Islamic family law systems across Southeast Asia.