Collusion on the Supreme Court<\/p>\n
Allegations of collusion on the Supreme Court (The Jakarta
\nPost, April 15 and Kompas, April 15) threaten jurisprudentie-
\nrecht (Dutch for judge-made law).<\/p>\n
The Chief Justice has authorized the Special Supervision
\nCoordinator within the Supreme Court to conduct an investigation.
\nHowever, the Deputy Chief Justice who brought the case to the
\nattention of the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office has said
\nthat an internal investigation team within the Supreme Court
\nwould not be objective.<\/p>\n
Academics such as Satjipto Rahardjo of Diponegoro University
\nhave said that Deputy Chief Justice Adi Andojo Soetjipto should
\nhave reported the case to the PO Box set up for complaints by the
\noffice of the vice president.<\/p>\n
Sri Sumantri, a constitutional law scholar at Padjadjaran
\nUniversity of Bandung, suggested that the People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR) set up a special commission to handle the
\ninvestigation. He also expressed the view that the internal
\ninvestigation team within the Supreme Court would not function
\nobjectively.<\/p>\n
Article 12 of Law No. 14\/1985 governing the Supreme Court,
\nlists five instances of misconduct which could result in the
\ndismissal of the justices. These include criminal acts and
\nviolating their oath of office.<\/p>\n
If Adi Andojo had reason and evidence for bringing the charges
\nto the Prosecutor's Office, then the issue falls within the ambit
\nof penal law. As correctly stated by Prof. Satjipto Rahardjo, the
\nremedy is legal (the Post, April 15, 1996). It is the
\nindividual's misconduct, and not the constitutional status of the
\nSupreme Court, that counts.<\/p>\n
Bringing the issue to the MPR could have a negative effect in
\nthat it could undermine the validity of Law No. 14\/1985 and leave
\nthe impression that the country's laws do not work.<\/p>\n
The idea of submitting the issue to the MPR may be sound
\ntheoretically, but whether it can actually be implemented is
\nanother problem.<\/p>\n
SAM SUHAEDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/collusion-on-the-supreme-court-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }