Don't hire disreputable lawyers, say attorneys<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Who contributes the most to the corruption of the judiciary in
\nthis country? Is it prosecutors, lawyers or judges?<\/p>\n
\"All do, including the public and businesspeople who persist
\nin winning litigation by 'buying' justice,\" noted lawyer Frans
\nHendra Winarta said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Frans, also a member of the National Commission on Legal
\nDevelopment (KHN), was addressing a workshop on benchmarks for
\nthe recruitment of prosecutors, judges and advocates co-organized
\nby KHN and Yogyakarta-based legal watchdog, Indonesian Court
\nWatch.<\/p>\n
Human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who shared the same
\nplatform with Frans at the workshop, asked the public not to hire
\n\"disreputable lawyers\", by which he meant those who violated the
\nlawyers' moral code of ethics by guaranteeing victory for their
\nclients and who enjoyed a \"luxurious\" life in their early career
\nas lawyers.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian judiciary has been under close scrutiny by the
\ninternational community due to many bribery cases allegedly
\ninvolving judges. But so far, none of the legal proceedings has
\nbrought the allegedly corrupt judges to justice.<\/p>\n
Justice Mohammad Laica Marzuki said that if lawyers stopped
\n\"contacting\" judges, then only 30 percent of the problems
\nassociated with Indonesia's corrupt judiciary would remain to be
\nsolved.<\/p>\n
\"It means that the remaining problem would be only how to
\nimprove the quality and professionalism of judges,\" Laica told
\nthe workshop.<\/p>\n
UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and
\nlawyers Dato Param Cumaraswamy completed his mission on Wednesday
\nwith the conclusion that the Indonesian government faced serious
\ntrouble largely due to widespread corruption within the
\njudiciary.<\/p>\n
In a separate interview, National Ombudsman Commission
\nchairman Antonius Sujata criticized the government for reacting
\ndefensively to Cumaraswamy's sharp comments that Indonesia's
\njudiciary was among the worst in the world.<\/p>\n
\"Such reaction was unwise and unhelpful for solving the
\nproblem,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
As part of the attempts to improve the judiciary, Laica
\nsuggested the establishment of an independent committee to carry
\nout the recruitment of judges, prosecutors and lawyers.<\/p>\n
He argued that under current practice -- where all the tests
\nare carried out by each respective institution for judges and
\nprosecutors and the Supreme Court for lawyers -- such tests were
\nstill tainted by corruption, collusion and nepotism.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dont-hire-disreputable-lawyers-say-attorneys-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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