Courts and the Right to Education in Indonesia

Is litigation an effective strategy for promoting fulfillment of the right to education in developing country democracies? This paper examines this question by considering the Indonesian case. We argue that litigation related to the right to education (hereafter R2E litigation) in Indonesia has promoted fulfillment of that right by precipitating policy changes protecting or enhancing poor and marginalized citizens’ access to education. At the same time, however, its impact has been contingent on several factors: (i) the availability of accessible legal pathways for defending and promoting education rights; (ii) the willingness and capacity of NGOs to act as support structures for legal mobilization; (iii) support from key sections of the judiciary; and (iv) wider political mobilization supportive of litigants’ aims. Some of these factors no longer prevail, raising doubts about the likely future effectiveness of R2E litigation in Indonesia. The key lesson of the Indonesian case, we conclude, is thus: while litigation can be an effective means for promoting fulfillment of the right to education in developing country democracies, its effectiveness will differ across time and place reflecting variation in these factors.