The Road to the Reformatory: (Mis-)communication in the Colonial Courts between Judges, Juveniles and Parents in the Netherlands Indies, 1900–;1942

Abstract

At ten o’clock in the morning, on 24 April 1926,12-year-old Peri entered the courtroom of Pematang Siantar, East Sumatra. He was accompanied by an indigenous policeman who told him to sit down on the floor, in front of the table of Landrechter, de Kruyff. For Sumatran Peri it was a strange experience to suddenly sit in front of a Dutch judge and indigenous council members. He had come to the city alone for a pleasant excursion and with the permission of his father, and now he was sitting in court, charged with theft, while his father had no idea where he was.¹ Just behind him on the floor sat Siau Kim Tong, the 37-year-old Chinese shopkeeper who was the witness in his case.