THE HISTORY OF YOGYAKARTA HIGH RELIGIOUS COURT

1. HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE OF SPECIAL REGION OF YOGYAKARTA

Special Region of Yogyakarta is a province-level autonomous region headed by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX as the regional head of DIY and Sri Paku Alam VIII as the Deputy Regional Head of DIY. The law that established the Special Region of Yogyakarta as the province-level autonomous region was Law Num. 3 jo 19 in 1950, while that put Kasunanan enclave areas in Bantul and Mangkunegaran enclave area in Gunung Kidul into Regency of Yogyakarta Special Region was Law Num.14 in 1958.

a. Dutch Colonization Period

In the Dutch colonial era, the status of  Yogyakarta Sultanate was not regulated by Ordonnantie (the law), but arranged in an agreement between the Governor-General of the Netherlands and the Sultan. This agreement was called politiek contract. This means that the status of Sultanate was not regulated unilaterally by the Governor-General of the Netherlands, but it was jointly determined by both parties, they were the Governor General of the Netherlands, and the Sultan on the other hand .

According to article 24 of the politiek contract, for regional interests of Sultanate of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan might issue regulations, but according to article 15, before being applied, the rules had to first be included in Rijksblad. In practice, who run daily government in the Sultanate was none other than Papatih Dalem. And considering the position of  Pepatih Dalem who was official of sultanate as well that of Gubernemen, then in practice all being done by Pepatih Dalem must have approval from the Dutch Governor.

Thus we can draw the conclusion that who ruled The Sultanate was none other than Pepatih Dalem by the Governor's approval.                           

b. Japanese Colonization Period

After the Japanese invaders had occupied Indonesia on March 8, 1942, the position of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta was also regulated by the Japanese.

c. Pepatih Dalem

In the former Dutch colonial era, in the practice of running the command in the area of Sultanate was Ryksbestuurder with the approval of the Governor of the Netherlands. And Pepatih Dalem had a double function, because he was a civil servant and the Sultanate and Guberneman employee, for which he received salary both from the Gubernemen  of Netherlands and from Sultanate. Even Dalem Pepatih must either raise the oath of allegiance both to the Sultan and to the Governor of the Netherlands. In that oath stated that if at any time of conflict between the interests of Dutch Governors and the of Sultanate he must be impartial to the Dutch colonialists.

At Yogyakarta Sultanate founded in 1755 (at the time mataram kingdom split into two, they were Kasunan Surakarta whose capitol was in Surakarta (Solo) city under the leadership of Sri Sunan Pakubuwono III and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta, whose capitol  was in Gamping and then moved to the city of Yogyakarta ( October 7, 1756) under the leadership of Sultan Hamengkubuwono I), the provision of the double function of Pepatih Dalem was also removed into Poltek contract between Sri

Sultan Hamengkubuwono with Gubernemen I of the Dutch. Considering everything mentioned above, the politics of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX which was run in the Japanese colonial era was gradually reducing the role and power of Pepatih Dalem.

To minimize the role and power of Pepatih Dalem, the then Sri Sultan divided The Government of Sultanate into some bureaus, named Paniradyapati.

With this politic, the Sultan was not only succeeded in breaking the imperial politics of Dalem Pepatih whom was used as a tool to serve the interests of occupiers and for sheep competed with the Sultan for the benefit of the colonizer.

d. Proclamation of Independence

After the proclamation of independence was held on August 17, 1945 and the Indonesian revolution began raging everywhere violently, then the people in Yogyakarta were satisfied, because in a very precarious situation people could communicate directly and see face to face with the Sultan, and precisely because the people had their  trust on the Sultan, then even revolution raging violently in Yogyakarta, this revolution could be found reasonably channels, so as to save the position of the Sultanate incarnated together with Paku Alam region became Yogyakarta Special Region under the Basic Law 1945.    

2. History of the High Religious Court of Yogyakarta

Before the establishment  of High Religious Court of Yogyakarta,  the jurisdiction of the Courts within the area of Province of special region of Yogyakarta was included in the jurisdiction of the Mahkamah Pengadilan Tinggi Agama Semarang, in 1993.

Yogyakarta  High Religious Court stand on the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 20 Year 1992 on 31 August 1992 and was inaugurated its operation on January 30, 1993 by Chairman of the Supreme Court of Republic of Indonesia.

The names of Acting Chairmen of  High Court of Religious Yogyakarta :

1. Drs. H. Ahmad Slamet 1993-1995
2. Drs. H. Thoyib Mangkupranata 1995-1999
3. Drs. H. Abdul Razak, SH 1999-2000
4. Drs. H. Khalilurrahman, SH., MBA., M. Hum 2001-2003
5. H. Abdullah Dhia, SH 2003-2008
6. Drs.H.Chatib Rashid, SH. MH. 2008 - 2009
7. Drs. H. M. Hasan H. Muhammad, SH., MH. 2009 - 2010
8. Drs. H. Ahmad Syarhuddin, SH., MH., 2010 - till now.
   

The names of the Registrars / Secretaries of Yogyakarta High Religious Court:

1. Drs. H. Agus Sugiarto 1993-1995
2. Drs. Tri Haryono, SH. 1995-1999
3. Adji Sutarja, SH. 1999-2007
4. Drs. H. Moh. Fadli, SH. MA. 2007-2008
5. Dra. Hj. Siti Maryam 2008-2010
6. Supardjiyanto, SH., 2010-till now.