Customary court as a community justice system aims at restoring a disturbed balance to a whole or uninjured condition (restitutio in integrum) in resolving every criminal case. This article discusses the urgency and efforts to apply customary court system as a means of penal mediation in resolving criminal cases. The result of the analysis indicates that customary court has the ability to function as a means of penal mediation in resolving restorative justice-based criminal cases. Criminal cases that could be mediated are those that are in violation of customary law according to the Indonesian Criminal Code Law (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana = KUHP) with imprisonment for up to five years. The utilization of customary court system is conducted by recognizing the institutional authority and judicial decision of the customary court in judicial authority law in Indonesia
Keywords: customary court; penal mediation; resolving criminal cases
