Legal Protection for Disabilities Persons with Language Limitations in Law Enforcement

Abstract

The State of Indonesia has protected people with disability through several regulations. Unfortunately, there is a huge gap in this implementation. Many people with disabilities are discriminated in several aspects, one of which is in legal cases. When they require assistance during an inquiry, an investigation, or even a trial, people with disabilities who have language impairments nevertheless find it to be difficult. This study uses a sociolegal approach with a focus on discussing legal protection for disabled persons with language limitations, consist of: existing regulations on disability protection; disability cases on the court decision; handling of legal cases; constraints of parties in legal cases experienced; and the effect of limitations on sign language and knowledge of the law. Our finding is that people with hearing impairment, in legal cases, cannot fulfill their rights to assistance from sign language interpreters. This is due to the fact that various stakeholders still do not comprehend the needs of people with hearing impairment. The efficiency of the law enforcement process for people with disabilities is hampered by regional variations in sign language, the existence of informal/nonformal sign language, and the restricted capabilities of law enforcement.