Legal Aid and Public Service Center For Handling Public Complaints in Cirebon City

The Legal Aid Center was established pursuant to Law Number 16 of  2011 on Legal Aid in Indonesia; in its operations, the Legal Aid Center Adheres to this law to assist the public in accessing legal aid services—specifically, the Legal Aid Center in Pulasaren Subdistrict, Cirebon City. This initiative was undertaken by the Cirebon City government to assist resident facing legal issues arising from problems in their neighborhoods and/or communities. This study was conducted to examine the services provided by the Legal Aid Center in Pulasaren Subdistrict, Cirebon City—from the bureaucratic application process to the responses from the relevant authorities—with the aim of ensuring equal acces to justice in public services. This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach, involving, the collection of documents, interviews with paralegals, representatives of the Cirebon City Legal Documents and Information Network (JDIH)—which serves as the Cirebon City Legal Entity—residents of Pulasaren as respondents, and field observations at the research site. The result of the study indicate that the management of Legal Aid Center services in Pulasaren Village is not yet fully independent because it relies heavily on the Cirebon City Legal Entity and expert in the field, lacks adequate facilities, and suffers from a lack of capacity building provided by the Cirebon City Legal Entity to Paralegals—who serve as advocates at the village/subdistrict level—which hinders the resolution of reported cases. Nevertheless, the Legal Aid Center in Pulasaren Subdistrict continues to provide services in the form of legal information on basic legal knowledge, meditation, consultations, and legal referrals, particularly to underprivileged individuals and those with limited legal knowledge.