Effectiveness of Summoning Mechanisms in Divorce Cases through E-Court and Registered Mail (POS): A Study at the Ambon Religious Court

The digital transformation of Indonesia’s judiciary has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, notably through Supreme Court Regulation (PERMA) No. 7 of 2022 on Electronic Court Administration and Proceedings and Supreme Court Circular (SEMA) No. 1 of 2023 on Registered Mail Summons. This study examines the effectiveness of e-court electronic summons and registered postal (POS) summons in divorce proceedings at the Ambon Class IA Religious Court. Using an exploratory sequential mixed-method design, it combines court case records for 2023–2025 with in-depth interviews with eight informants (bailiffs, advocates, and litigants). The case records cover all cases registered through e-court, not divorce alone, and serve as contextual indicators; the divorce-specific analysis rests on the interviews. E-court cases rose from 198 (2023) to 311 (2024) and 1,100 (2025), while verstek rulings remained at 59.83–63.48% of claims. Guided by Soerjono Soekanto’s theory of legal effectiveness, the analysis shows that e-court summons are undermined by low digital literacy and unchecked email notifications, whereas postal summons suffer from slow delivery, address-finding failures, courier turnover, and non-compliance with the village-coordination procedure. Archipelagic geography is introduced as an additional factor conditioning all five Soekanto factors. The study proposes richer party-contact and location data, a stronger cooperation framework with PT Pos Indonesia, and institutionalized digital-literacy assistance.