Indonesia adopts small claim lawsuit in its legal system – aiming for fast paced and effective proceedings. The regulation is established under the Supreme Court Regulation Number 4 of 2019 (“PERMA No.4/2019”), an amendment to Supreme Court Regulation Number 2 of 2015. Here is a thing to note, the material losses in small claim court must not exceed Rp500.000.000 as written under the Article 1 Paragraph 1 of PERMA No.4/2019 and will be examined by a single judge instead of three judges.
There are few requirements that should be fulfilled before submitting a small claim court to Indonesia’s district court, which includes:
1. The claim is not related to land disputes or any disputes that shall be proceeded under special court according to Indonesian law.
2. The parties involved shall only be one plaintiff and one defendant (exception for related parties that have exactly similar legal issue).
3. Plaintiff and Defendant is obliged to attend each proceeding. Nonetheless, in practice, both parties can be represented by their own legal counsel.
Let’s get back to the maximum material losses in small claim court; Rp500.000.000. It is highly crucial to note that the calculation depends on the judge’s discretion. The judge will take into consideration the documents brought to the court, at last determining whether all of the losses exceed Rp500.000.000. If the judge stipulates that it exceed the maximum number, then the case will be dismissed as small claim lawsuit.
This scenario occurred in Case Number 16/Pdt.G.S/2025/PN Bks, where the judge dismissed the Plaintiff’s claim without any further proceedings (as we called it, pembuktian). In this case, Plaintiff claims for the alleged losses amounted to Rp500.000.000 as a result of Defendant’s action on hindering the Plaintiff to its own assets after the termination of his position on the Defendant’s company as director. He claimed exactly Rp500.000.000, however the judge calculated all of the losses from the claims he submitted; way more than Rp500.000.000. With this, the judge dismissed the case and published these rulings:
1. Declared that the case is not considered as small claim lawsuit;
2. Dismissed the case;
3. Refunded court admission fee to Plaintiff.
At last, it is also important to mention that there are no legal remedies available for small claim lawsuit except for Objection that shall be submitted maximum 7 days after the Court Ruling has been published by the court.
In conclusion, while small claim court in Indonesia offers a faster, simplified legal process, one crucial aspect must not be overlooked: the final calculation of material losses lies entirely in the hands of the judge. Even if your claim appears to be within the Rp500.000.000 limit, the judge may interpret and calculate it differently based on the evidence presented. So, expect the unexpected—because in small claim court, it’s not just about what you claim, but how the judge sees it.