Legal Interpreting in Indonesia: Forensic Linguistic Study

Abstract

Legal system in Indonesia based on a civil law system, intermixed with customary law and the Roman Dutch law. Procedures in Indonesia district court, start with the prosecutor was ordered to bring the defendant before the trial in a free state. The research aim is to described the Legal System in Indonesia: Forensic Linguistic Study. This research used descriptive qualitative method. This study used lexical semantics (verbal communication such as sounds,words, language and speech) in visual media as the data. This research method used qualitative by describing the data. The result shows that the access to language assistance for a defendant is very important especially for foreign people who are not able to speak Indonesian because the court session is the most important place for a defendant to defend himself. Furthermore, the defendant will be able to state everything he needs for his defense freely, for this purpose the court provides an interpreter for a defendant. As an interpreter must be neutral and impartial, all matters and conversation in the court during the trial must be kept confidential.