PROBLEMATIKA KEWENANGAN PENGADILAN NEGERI MALANG DALAM PERMOHONAN PENGAKUAN ANAK YANG BERAGAMA ISLAM (Studi Putusan Perkara Nomor 712/Pdt.P/2025/PN.Mlg)

Applications for child acknowledgment involving Muslim legal subjects are normatively part of the Islamic family law regime and fall within the absolute jurisdiction of the Religious Courts. However, in judicial practice, such applications are still examined and decided by the District Courts, as reflected in Decision Number 712/Pdt.P/2025/PN.Mlg. This research aims to analyze the overlap of absolute jurisdiction between the District Courts and the Religious Courts in examining applications for child acknowledgment, as well as to assess the juridical implications of judicial reasoning on the boundaries of judicial jurisdiction. This study employs an empirical juridical research method with statutory, conceptual, and case study approaches. The data were obtained through an analysis of court decisions, statutory regulations, relevant jurisprudence, and interviews with judicial officers. The findings indicate that child acknowledgment for Muslim applicants constitutes a matter of personal status which, as a lex specialis, falls under the absolute jurisdiction of the Religious Courts, as stipulated in Article 49 letter (a) of Law Number 3 of 2006 on Religious Courts and the Compilation of Islamic Law. The examination and determination of such applications by the District Courts give rise to juridical implications in the form of uncertainty regarding jurisdictional boundaries, the risk of defects in absolute competence, and deviations from the judicial authority structure established by law. This research concludes that the core issue does not lie in normative gaps, but rather in the inconsistent application of jurisdictional authority, thereby necessitating consistent enforcement of the principle of absolute jurisdiction and the strengthening of the role of the Religious Courts in accepting and adjudicating applications for child acknowledgment involving Muslim legal subjects.