Narrative Texts in Three Copies of Court Decisions of
Defamation Cases
Mahardhika Zifana, Iwa Lukmana, and Dadang Sudana
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jalan Doktor Setiabudhi 229, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Narrative Text, Copy of Court Decision, Defamation Cases, Semiotics, Rhetoric.
Abstract: This research aims to understand three copies of court decisions of defamation cases. It is to understand how
and why the Indonesian judiciary designs decision to build the good image of judicial system. Ontologically,
this study is built on the belief that the copies of court decision is a communication medium used by the
judiciary to build image and to gain legitimacy. This study was carried out within the interpretive paradigm
by using a semiotic approach. It employed semiotic analysis. This research shows that the copies of court
decision of defamation cases have been designed by the judiciary as a rhetorical story to build a positive image
that the judiciary is concerned with social and legitimacy issues. By doing so, the Indonesian judiciary actively
seeks strategies to gain legitimacy from the Indonesian people.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the last few decades, the practice of disclosure of
legal phenomena through linguistic perspectives has
increased significantly. Studies have been conducted
in many countries and published in various journals
and proceedings. The study of linguistic aspects in the
legal area not only employs structural approaches, but
also interpretive and critical theory (Habermas,
2015). In fact, some linguistic studies pertaining to
law have their own place in the field of forensic
linguistics.
Most studies that analyze the disclosure of legal
phenomena, generally revolve around courtroom
evidence and textual information relating to legal
products, such as laws and government regulations.
Language is placed as an analytical tool or a verifier
in major legal cases and/or legal products. Studies
that examine specific legal products, such as
courtroom products, have not gained so much
attention in terms of language-and-law studies.
Issues related to legal products tend to be
examined in the context of factors affecting case
disclosure (Prakken, H. & Sartor, G. , 2015). Most
research is initially based on the positivist paradigm
by using mathematical equations and statistical
analysis. However, as a part of the linguistic realm
that intersects with the domain of law, language
practice is not static and ignores aspects of social
dynamics (Cao, 2017). Language is a dynamic field
of study and is formed on the basis of social
interaction between individuals and their
environment. In the perspective of social
construction, as claimed by (Mattila, 2016), the
practice of language and legal research should not
only present quantitative information and correct-
wrong calculations, but should also provide other
information –such as narrative text, photos, tables,
and graphs. To that end, this study attempts to look at
one of the legal products, namely copies of court
decision, by using a narrative perspective.
A copy of court decision contains a narrative text
that explains the basis of decision making by the
judge in a courtroom (Chase, 2015). It is designed by
judge as a rhetorical account to establish justification
for the decision through the use of narrative text.
Narrative text is a part that plays an important role for
the court (as well as the judge who presides over the
trial) in shaping the image of the correctness of the
decision taken. Narrative texts include, among others,
the discussion and analysis submitted by the judge in
the courtroom.
By using a narrative text, a judge’s decision
decision will provide a positive image and avoid
negative image of the veracity of the decision
(Weissman, 2015). The way in which judges use to
transmit messages through Copies of decisions is, in
essence, a judicial communication strategy used to
build public confidence in the reliability of judicial
Zifana, M., Lukmana, I. and Sudana, D.
Narrative Texts in Three Copies of Court Decisions of Defamation Cases.
DOI: 10.5220/0007165202390245
In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference
on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 239-245
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
239

system. As noted earlier, not much research has
focused on the issue of narrative text. On the basis of
the argument, this study is intended to analyze the
rhetoric used by judges in decision making. This
study, in other words, attempts to answer the question
of how and why judges disclose the information that
underlies the decision-making contained in the
Decision Copies. This study is based on an ontology
that a copy of a court decision is a communication
medium that can be used to form a rhetorical story
relating to the basics of a judge's decision in the
courtroom. As a communication medium, the rhetoric
formed by the judge cannot be separated from the
semiotic aspect because it forms the language used in
communication. Based on the ontology, this research
was conducted in an interpretive paradigm and used a
semiotic approach that analyzed copies of decisions
in the desired perceptive meaning of the use of
symbols, words, and sentences.
2 THEORETICAL REVIEW
Text can be defined as a linguistic unit. Text is a unity
of language that has the form and content, or facet of
expression and terms of content. According to (Hoed,
2007), a text must meet the following textual criteria.
1. Among the textual elements, there is a formally
marked semantic link.
2. Text content may be acceptable for fulfilling
textual logic.
3. The text is produced with a specific purpose.
4. The text is acceptable to the reader/community.
5. The text is has semantic relation with other text.
6. The text is contains certain information and
messages.
In the context of this research, in order to
understand the narrative texts present in some copies
of court decision, it is necessary to understand the
meaning of each word, symbol, and sentence
contained in the narrative texts. The meaning is
interpreted as a message that a judge wants to convey
to the audience (the people). This process is often
called rhetoric.
(Martin, 2016) describes rhetoric as a form of
language or persuasive or effective writing that aims
to control reality in order to influence particular
audience. Rhetoric as a process has certain
characteristics. (Heracleous, L., & Klaering, L. A.,
2014) says that there are two key characteristics of
rhetoric: style and context.
Style refers to a choice in making arguments to be
conveyed to an audience. When a style is related to
presentation, the rhetoric will greatly affect the ability
of the presenter in presenting argument (Heracleous
& Klaering, 2014). There are four factors that
influence the style in rhetoric (Hart, R. P., Daughton,
S. M., & LaVally, R., 2017), namely (a) logical
argument, (b) the ability to influence others, (c)
rhetoric is an open interpretation and can have
multiple meanings; ) rhetoric is composed of
identifiable linguistic techniques.
The second aspect of rhetoric is context. Context
refers to the consideration of situation in which
certain arguments will be made. In other words, the
arguments made must be addressed to an audience
(Heracleous & Klaering, 2014). Rhetoric is generally
directed at a particular audience. A person who is
ethical must be able to adapt to a particular audience
and can change the ideas that the audience already has
(Heracleous & Klaering, 2014). According to
Heracleous & Klaering (2014), the point of the
argument is to reaffirm the speaker’s conviction –not
to convince an audience of truth they have believed.
All in all, it can be said that a copy of court
decision is one form of rhetoric. This rhetoric is done
by judge. The judge shows certain arguments and data
to convince readers that in carrying out judicial
activities, the judge also pays attention to related
social aspects.
3 RESEARCH METHODS
This research employed a qualitative method through
a narrative semiotic analysis of three copies of court
decisions related to defamation cases. This research
did not use numbers as indicators of research
variables to answer the research problems. This study
used copies of court decisions as the data. It is
because, during the year 2014-2016, Indonesian court
has held trials for more than 3000 cases of
defamation. The amount of this figure is triggered by
the Indonesian legal system which still categorizes
some verbal activities as crimes.
The analysis of data conducted in this research
was a semiotic analysis of narrative text in the copies
of court decision. The narrative semiotic analysis is
an analysis that uses sentence structure as the basis
for explaining a narrative text. Semiotics is the study
of signs in human life. That is, everything present in
life is seen as a sign, something we must give
meaning. Ferdinand de Saussure (1916 in (Gasparov,
2016) from the beginning of the initiation of modern
linguistic studies puts a sign as a meeting between the
form (which is illustrated in the sense of a person) and
the meaning or content (which is understood by the
human being as the sign user).
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Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
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The data used as an object of analysis in semiotic
study is text. Texts can be classified into two
subgroups: (a) text representing experience, which
can be analyzed by systematic elicitation techniques
(identifying elements of text that are part of a culture
and examine the relationships between them) from
the analysis of words or texts as sign systems; and (b)
text as the object of analysis by conducting
conversation, narrative, parole, or grammatical
analyses (Fleisher, 2015). This research belongs to
the subgroup (a). the data analysis is based on
analytical descriptive approach in accordance with
the meaning of symbols, words, and sentences
encountered in the copies of court decision.
4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Among the types of crimes listed in the Indonesian
Penal Code, defamation can be considered as the most
attractive type for linguists. Defamation is one of the
criminal acts that make language a ‘tool of evil’.
Typically a crime, Indonesian law regulates
defamation in detail and thoroughly since language of
law should not provide a loophole for the emergence
of multiple interpretations. In almost every period,
public attention is also devoted to various cases of
defamations involving many parties. As an
illustration, throughout 2013, the search directory on
the Supreme Court website provided 791 defamation
cases across Indonesia that had been decided at
various levels of courts ranging from the District
Court to the Supreme Court (Zifana, 2016).
4.1 Front Cover
Cover of the copy of court decisions is designed to
illustrate the image of a legitimate and official
judicial institution. All covers use similar designs,
namely the judiciary. The use of images and design is
not without purpose but has certain meanings. The
front cover is an official image of the Indonesian
judiciary that has the legitimacy to resolve legal
cases. The plain white background on the cover can
be identified with the sanctity of the judiciary. It
appears that the Supreme Court seeks to emphasize
its rights and obligations as the competent authority
to resolve legal disputes.
In addition to white, the cover also shows the text
that is the title, namely “Salinan Keputusan
Pengadilan” (The Copy of Court Decision). Several
items of the copies describe the cases decided in the
relevant courtrooms. This is certainly the focus of the
legitimacy of a legitimate judicial institution. This
description shows that the Indonesian judiciary has a
specific purpose to be conveyed through the cover.
This is in accordance with the opinion (Mautner,
2016) that in a text, the presentation with the best way
of view and the meaning of the text must be clearly
understood.
4.2 Preliminary Section
This section contains introductory words from judges
in formal texts. In the three copies of court decisions,
this section has three points of message conveyed to
the reader as follows.
4.2.1 A copy of a court decision shall be
prepared in accordance with the
format of writing required by the
Supreme Court
In drafting a copy of a court decision, judges use the
format of writing as a guide. This is clearly expressed
through the similarity of formatting at the beginning
of the copies as follows.
Pengadilan Negeri Purwakarta yang mengadili
perkara-perkara pidana pada peradilan tingkat
pertama dengan acara pemeriksaan biasa, telah
menjatuhkan putusan sebagai berikut dalam
perkara terdakwa….
The Purwakarta District Court that tries the
criminal proceedings at the court of first instance with
the ordinary examination, has rendered the following
decision in the case of the defendant.... (Copy of
Decision 1).
Pengadilan Tinggi Maluku yang memeriksa dan
mengadili perkara-perkara pidana dalam
peradilan tingkat banding, telah menjatuhkan
putusan seperti tersebut dibawah ini dalam
perkara terdakwa….
The High Court of Maluku that examines and
adjudicates criminal cases in the appellate court, has
rendered a decision hereunder in the case of the
defendant.... (Copy of Decision 2)
4.2.2 Objectives of the Courts
A copy of court decision is used as a tool to provide
clear and transparent information for people. The
following statements show that the courts’ decision-
making is a product of judiciary in providing a sense
of justice to the people.
Narrative Texts in Three Copies of Court Decisions of Defamation Cases
241

Menyatakan Terdakwa NUNUNG
SETYANINGRUM,SH binti KARLAN telah
terbukti secara sah dan meyakinkan bersalah
melakukan tindak pidana “ Dengan sengaja dan
tanpa hak mentrasmisikan dokumen elektronik
yang memiliki muatan penghinaan dan/atau
pencemaran nama baik.
Stating the Defendant NUNUNG
SETYANINGRUM, SH bint KARLAN has been
proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing
a criminal act “Intentionally and without right to
transmit electronic documents that have defamatory
and/or defamatory contents”. (Copy of Decision 3)
4.2.3 Statements of the Judges in Duty
This section contains the statements of the Panel of
Judges. The contents of the judges’ statements on the
three Copies are similar. This section is used to
summarize the end of the court decision. The
following is an excerpt from the statement of one of
the copies of court decision.
Demikianlah diputuskan dalam rapat
permusyawaratan Majelis Hakim Pengadilan
Negeri Purwakarta pada hari RABU tanggal 7
MEI 2014 oleh kami NGURAH SURADATTA D.,
SH.MH. sebagai Hakim Ketua, ISTIQOMAH
BERAWI, SH.MH. dan MARTA NAPITUPULU
SH.MH. masing-masing sebagai Hakim anggota
berdasarkan penetapan Ketua Pengadilan Negeri
Purwakarta No. 16/Pen.Pid/2014/PN.Pwk.,
tanggal 20 Januari 2014, putusan tersebut
diucapkan pada hari RABU tanggal 14 MEI 2014
dalam persidangan yang terbuka untuk umum
oleh Majelis Hakim tersebut, dengan dibantu oleh
SRI WILUJENG Panitera Pengganti pada
Pengadilan Negeri tersebut, dan dihadiri oleh
EKA DARMAWAN NUGRAHA, SH. Penuntut
Umum pada Kejaksaan Negeri Purwakarta
dengan hadirnya Terdakwa.
Thus it was decided in the meeting of the Panel of
Judges of Purwakarta District Court on the day of
WEDNESDAY dated MAY 7, 2014 by us NGURAH
SURADATTA D., SH.MH. as Chief Judge,
ISTIQOMAH BERAWI, SH.MH. and MARTA
NAPITUPULU SH.MH. respectively as member
judges pursuant to the stipulation of the Chairman of
Purwakarta District Court Number 16/Pen.Pid/2014/
PN.Pwk., dated January 20, 2014, the decision was
made on the day of WEDNESDAY dated MAY 14,
2014 in a court session that is opened to the public by
the Panel of Judges, assisted by SRI WILUJENG as
the Substitute Registrar at the District Court, and was
attended by EKA DARMAWAN NUGRAHA, SH.,
the Public Prosecutor at the State Prosecutor’s Office
of Purwakarta with the presence of the Defendant.
(Copy of Decision 1).
What is presented by the judiciary is essentially a
rhetorical story to shape the image and affect the
reader. In this case, the judicial courts use the copies
of decisions as tools to form a positive image on the
existing judicial system. Through such statements,
the judges wishes to inform the readers that the
Indonesian judiciary is a caring entity and carries on
the principles of justice.
The above disclosure practice is basically
consistent with the argument of (Dubrovskaya, et al.,
2015). The judiciary tends to try to create an image
that is perceived in accordance with the values of
justice determined by the state. Therefore, the
judiciary is actively looking for images that have
positive values, and tend to avoid negative image.
4.3 Case Profile
A case profiles is expressed through narratives that
tell the background of a court process. In this section,
a narration is, of course, unique and is not similar to
others. A narrative text is used to describe an identity
of each case, from the background to the events that
led to the courtroom. The narrative tells the beginning
of the case until the case of the trial. The following is
excerpts from the three copies of court decisions.
… terdakwa membuat tulisan di dinding akun
facebook N’Doen Poenya Dinnie milik terdakwa
dengan kalimat sebagai berikut…
... the defendant made a post on the facebook wall
of “N'Doen Poenya Dinnie” belonging to the
defendant with the following sentence ... (Copy of
Decision 1)
…Perbuatan mana dilakukan Terdakwa dengan
cara-cara sebagai berikut….
... Which act were committed by the Defendant in
the following ways ... (Copy of Decision 2)
…bahwa perbuatan Terdakwa tersebut dilakukan
dengan sengaja, yaitu dengan cara mengirim
dokumen elektronik berupa sms kepada saksi
korban…
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
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... that the defendant’s act was committed
intentionally, that is by sending an electronic
document in the form of sms to the victim-witness ...
(Copy of Decision 3).
The sentences contained in the case profile
include all illustrations of events that lead to the
defamation cases and show defamatory forms that
violate the laws. According to (Tilly, 2015),
individuals (both people and institutions) provide
explanations for their established behavior
(consciously or unconsciously) to maintain their
claims about positive social or image identities. In the
case of the copies of court decisions, the behavior of
bringing the background of the case to the main event
of the case is done to maintain a positive image in the
judiciary.
4.4 Case Disclosures
(Smith, 2017) says that a success in rhetoric depends
greatly on the intended audience and the arguments
used in conveying the message. The judges attempt to
convey a message to the community and set out
specific reasons for how the messages are delivered
to them.
4.4.1 Target of Information
The copies of court decisions are addressed to public.
This is indicated through the openness of the Supreme
Court site to the public who wishes to download and
read any Copies. In particular, the copies are also
expected to be a learning material for people to be
more compliant with applicable law. These things are
indicated through the narrative statement below.
Menimbang bahwa … Majelis Hakim memandang
tujuan pemidanaan tersebut bukan semata-mata
sebagai pembalasan atas perbuatan Terdakwa,
melainkan agar Terdakwa menginsyafi
kesalahannya…
Considering that… according to the Panel of
Judges, the purpose of the trial is not merely as
retaliation for the Defendant’s actions, but for the
Defendant to acknowledge the guilt ... (Copy of
Decision 1).
Menimbang, bahwa tujuan pemidanaan dalam
sistim hukum pidana Indonesia adalah salah
satunya Mencegah dilakukannya tindak pidana
dengan menegakkan norma hokum demi
pengayoman Negara dan masyarakat.
Considering that the purpose of criminal punishment
in the Indonesian criminal law system is, among
others, to prevent the commission of criminal acts by
upholding the legal norms for the protection of the
State and the people (Copy of Decision 2)
Menimbang, bahwa berdasarkan pertimbangan
tersebut unsur ini telah terbukti terpenuhi dalam
perbuatan terdakwa…
Considering that based on this consideration, this
element has been proven to be fulfilled in the actions
of the Defendant... (Copy of Decision 3)/
Furthermore, the target encompasses the entire
people as the subject of applicable law, so that the
Indonesian judiciary feels the need to emphasize the
nature of the court as the party that awakens the
defendant to the guilt.
The purpose of a copy of court decision for the
judiciary is to be a management and a communication
tool that bridges the judiciary and the people. The
copies provide information that is transparent to the
public. This is stated clearly in the three quotations
above. The copies are rhetorical stories used by the
judiciary as an impression management to influence
the reader that the judiciary has implemented
sustainable law enforcement.
4.4.2 Copy of court decision as the
rhetorical story of the judiciary
The narrative text present in a copy of court
decision can be classified as a rhetorical story used by
the judiciary to influence the reader to support the
existence of the existing judicial system. Like other
legal documents, a copy of court decision is also a
part of judicial and legal activities that are regarded
as official state information.
According to (Mattila, 2016), legal language can
be classified as rhetorical because the information
provided may affect the reader. Rhetoric can be
interpreted in different ways, from bombastic and
misleading to an argumentative language.
In the case of a copy of court decision of the
Indonesian judiciary, the contents of the copies may
be considered as the argument to influence readers
that the Indonesian judiciary has properly
administered the governance, operation, and
performance of the judicial system. Several
statements in the copies examined in this study
indicate that the judiciary uses many persuasive
sentences that may affect the public opinion regarding
law enforcement.
Narrative Texts in Three Copies of Court Decisions of Defamation Cases
243

4.4.3 Getting a good image from the
community
It has been mentioned earlier that in conducting its
activities, the judiciary seeks to create a positive
image and tends to avoid negative image. This image
can be formed with an impression approach. The
impression strategy may differ depending on the
target community. Explanation in the copies of court
decisions are a rhetorical process or story as a Judicial
System strategy to establish a good image of the
judiciary institution. Through these copies, the
judiciary also displays positive statements related to
law enforcement. Here are some examples.
Majelis Hakim berpendapat bahwa hukuman
yang akan dijatuhkan kepada Terdakwa adalah
sudah cukup setimpal dan adil dengan perbuatan
yang telah dilakukan oleh Terdakwa tersebut. .
The Panel of Judges is of the opinion that the
sentence to be imposed on the Defendant is sufficient
and fair to the act which the Defendant has
committed. (Copy of Decision 1).
Majelis Hakim memperhatikan dari segi
kemanusiaan sehingga dengan dijatuhkan pidana
tersebut tidak akan menderitakan.
The judges are concerned with humanitarian
matters so that the imposition of such a crime will not
be miserable. (Copy of Decision 3).
The above statement indicates that the existence
of the Judiciary has had a positive influence on law
enforcement in Indonesia. This indicates that the
judiciary struggles to form a positive image in the
eyes of the people. This positive image can be
indirectly interpreted as the acquisition of legitimacy.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This study aims to answer two main questions. The
first question is how decision-making is narrated in
the copies of decisions. In disclosing decision-making
information, the judges use the standard format of
court decision making as a guide. The judge discloses
background information on decision making in the
form of a rhetorical story to form a positive image that
the decisions they take can be justified by virtue of
applicable law. This is done to convince the reader, in
this case the public, as well as to gain legitimacy as
the implementer of the law.
The second research question is why the copies of
court decision is different from the decision read out
in court. From semiotic analysis, it can be concluded
that there are several reasons for why the copies of
court decision is different from the official decision
read out in court. These reasons include the copies of
court decision in the Indonesian justice system as a
medium of communication between the judiciary and
the community, so it must be presented in a solid and
clear manner. The copies of court decision is
rhetorical forms of judiciary to obtain a good image
of the community and to gain legitimacy from the
parties in the courtroom.
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