Mediation in Marriage Disputes and Divorce (Analytical Study on the Application of Mediation in the Gorontalo Religious Court)

Abstract: This article discussed mediation as a way of resolving marital disputes. Divorce was one form of marital dispute in the Religious Courts, and in terms of resolving marital disputes, mediation was required. Although the rules of mediation in the judiciary are very clear, the facts show that the disputing parties and the courts have not optimized their use so that the divorce rate every year does not experience a significant decrease; on the contrary, it increases. The theory regarding mediation procedures in the Religious Courts has clearly been stated in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia (No. 1 of 2016). This article aims to analyze the implementation of the mediation process at the Gorontalo Religious Court. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more in-depth research on the effectiveness of the Gorontalo Religious Court to resolve marital disputes that lead to divorce, which can be avoided, and the litigants can get back together and foster a ‘sakinah mawaddah wa rahmah’ household. This article used a qualitative with an empirical juridical approach. It could be concluded that the mediation had been carried out at the Gorontalo Religious Court under the Regulation of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia (No. 1 of 2016). Four factors affect successful and unsuccessful mediation, namely the litigation party factor, the mediator factor, the advocate or lawyer factor, and the representative mediation room factor.