INDONESIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Nico Angelo Putra Mooduto, Mahareksha Singh Dillon, Talitha Amanda Ekadhani and Bagas Ananta, SSEK Law Firm
lage head or subdistrict head. If the defendant’s address is unknown, the summons is delivered to the regent of the area where the defendant was last known to reside. In these cases, the summons is also posted on the announcement board of the district court. If the defendant resides within Indonesia but out- side the jurisdiction of the court where the law- suit was filed, the court may co-ordinate with the local district court where the defendant resides to serve the documents. For defendants located outside Indonesia, ser- vice can be executed through diplomatic chan- nels. The plaintiff must notify the court of the defendant’s international address, and the court will liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indonesian embassies or consulates abroad to serve the documents on the defendant. 3.6 Failure to Respond If the defendant does not respond to a lawsuit, the case may proceed in their absence. The court will check if the summons was properly served and if the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to appear. If the court finds the ser- vice to be valid, the proceedings may move for- ward without the defendant. In these cases, the court may issue a default judgment in favour of the plaintiff, provided the claim is supported both legally and factually. The court will review the evidence to confirm the plaintiff’s entitlement to the judgment before making its decision. Once issued, the default judgment is formally served to the defendant, notifying them of the court’s ruling. The defendant has the right to file an objection ( verzet ) to the default judgment within 14 days of receiving notice. By submitting a verzet , the
defendant can reopen the case and present their defence, resulting in a full examination of the merits. 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Class action claims are permitted in Indonesia. A class action is defined as a legal procedure in which one or more individuals represent a group in a lawsuit, either on their own behalf or on behalf of others with similar legal or factual issues. To qualify for a class action, there must be com- mon legal or factual issues among the claims of the class members, which should predominate over individual issues. The class must be large enough to make individual lawsuits impracti- cal, emphasising practicality and efficiency. The claims or defences of the representative parties must be typical of those of the class, and their interests should align with those of the class members. Additionally, the representative par- ties must adequately protect the interests of the class, ensuring competency and avoiding con- flicts of interest. If the court determines that a class action may proceed, notice must be given to all potential class members, detailing the lawsuit, the class, and the right to opt out. Those who opt out retain the right to pursue individual lawsuits. If the case is not settled, it proceeds to trial, and the court’s judgment binds all class members, except those who opted out. Any proposed set- tlement must be approved by the court to ensure it is fair, reasonable, and adequate for the class members. The considerations of the judges for class-action lawsuits are no different from those for lawsuits filed by individuals or legal entities.
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