Who Acts as Guardian Judge when Head of KUA is Woman? The Reconstruction of Authority Delegation in Marriage Law

Abstract

The issue of the judicial guardian becomes complex when the Head of the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) may come from a different functional position and is simultaneously held by an Indonesian woman. Ambiguity arises because the position of Head of the KUA, the status of the Penghulu, fiqh requirements, and the sources of administrative authority do not always align under Indonesian law. This study analyses the construction of the wali hakim’s authority and formulates a model that integrates fiqh legitimacy, administrative legality, and legal certainty under Indonesian law. The study employs a normative legal method with a normative approach to regulations and literature to examine the structure of the wali hakim’s authority in Indonesia. Data sources comprised regulations, academic articles and relevant literature, collected through systematic documentation techniques for the purposes of analysis. Data analysis followed the methodology of Miles and colleagues through data condensation, data presentation and the gradual drawing of conclusions based on the study’s normative findings. The findings indicate that the Head of the KUA is not always synonymous with a judicial guardian, as the status of the Penghulu and the configuration of the post determine the scope of such authority. When the Head of the KUA is not a Penghulu, the appropriate mechanism is the administrative appointment of a Penghulu, rather than a delegation or mandate from the Head of the KUA to an official. This study proposes an institutional-functional authority model that integrates fiqh legitimacy, administrative competence, official qualifications, documentation and legal certainty within a single structure. Further research should empirically test this model across different KUA offices to assess the consistency of its application and variations in interpretation amongst Indonesian officials.