Legal Protection for Children Regarding Child Support Following Their Parents’ Divorce: The Effectiveness of Criminal Sanctions in The Compilation of Indonesian Islamic Law

Bustomi, Bustomi
Wazin, Wazin
Permana, Dede
Itang, Itang
Sayehu, Sayehu

Pena Justisia: Media Komunikasi dan Kajian Hukum
Vol. 24 No. 2 (2025): Pena Justisia

Legal protection of children's rights to maintenance following parental divorce constitutes a fundamental issue demanding serious attention within the Islamic family law system in Indonesia, considering that Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection as amended by Law Number 35 of 2014 through Article 26 paragraph (1) explicitly obligates parents to nurture, care for, educate, and protect children including the fulfillment of economic needs, while Article 76B in conjunction with Article 77B regulates the prohibition of child neglect with criminal consequences of maximum five years imprisonment and a fine of one hundred million rupiah. The Compilation of Islamic Law as the substantive guideline for Religious Courts in Article 105 letter (c) and Article 156 letter (d) has stipulated that child maintenance costs shall be borne by the father, however the field reality as examined by Wahyuni indicates that such provisions lack strict sanction mechanisms thereby creating a legal vacuum in the enforcement of child maintenance decisions, whereas Arifin's research reveals that Religious Court Decisions regarding child maintenance often become paper tigers due to the absence of effective coercive power against non-compliant parties. This condition is reinforced by Musawwamah's findings which note that the majority of mothers holding custody rights experience difficulties in executing maintenance decisions due to weak coordination between the civil mechanisms of Religious Courts and criminal instruments within the Child Protection Law. Based on these problems, this research formulates: 1. How is legal protection for children's maintenance rights addressed in Decision Number 1181/Pdt.G/2024/PA.Rks in conjunction with Decision Number 30/Pdt.G/2025/PTA.Bt? 2. How can the effectiveness of criminal sanctions be integrated within the framework of the Compilation of Islamic Law? This research employs qualitative methods with a juridical-normative approach through decision analysis, literature study, and in-depth interviews.