The Living Law’s Relationship with State Law in the Judge’s Decision: Indonesian Legal Pluralism

The plurality that Indonesia has creates legal pluralism where there are more than one law in force, state law as a legislative and living law product as a law that lives and develops in the community for generations. In the judicial process both laws can be used as a legal source for judges in deciding cases. This research includes legal socio-research which aims to analyze the living law as a legal source of judges and the relationship between state law and the living law in judges’ decisions with a perspective of legal pluralism. Judges can use the living law as a source of law by making legal discoveries. The relation between state law and the living law in a judge’s decision is a synergic, interactive relationship as an effort to overcome the legal gap between law in the books and law in actions with the main goal of realizing a substantive justice decision.