House lifts hurdle to judicial liberty<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives (DPR) has removed one major hurdle
\nto judicial independence by placing all courts under the direct
\nsupervision of the Supreme Court, but a noted legal expert warned
\nthat an independent and clean judicial system was still a long
\nway off.<\/p>\n
The House endorsed on Thursday the revisions to Law No.
\n14\/1970 on Judicial Power as well as Law No. 14\/1985 on the
\nSupreme Court, putting an end to interference by the ministry of
\njustice and human rights in the country's court system.<\/p>\n
\"We hope these two bills will improve our judicial system,\"
\nsaid Zain Badjeber, chairman of the House's Legislation Body
\n(Baleg), at a plenary meeting here.<\/p>\n
Currently, the justice and human rights ministry is in charge
\nof promotion, placement, salaries and other administrative tasks
\nof judges, while the Supreme Court deals mostly with appeals.<\/p>\n
Experts have blamed the overlapped authority as one of the
\ncauses of the corrupt judicial system, because most judges tend
\nto prioritize their career and position when issuing court
\nverdicts on high-profile cases like corruption involving
\ngovernment officials.<\/p>\n
Under the revisions, the organizational, administrative and
\nfinancial affairs of both public and state administrative courts
\nwill be placed under the Supreme Court by March 31, 2004 at the
\nlatest.<\/p>\n
For the religious and military courts, the transfer should be
\nmade no later than June 30 next year.<\/p>\n
Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan welcomed the revisions, saying
\nthat the moves could speed up judicial reform in the country.<\/p>\n
However, Johnson Pandjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid and
\nHuman Rights Association (PBHI) warned that such a \"one-roof
\nsystem\" would not be enough to create an independent and
\ncorruption-free judicial system.<\/p>\n
\"The Supreme Court has to get rid of corruption, nepotism or
\ncollusion, nor has it done anything about the 'court mafia',\"
\nJohnson told The Jakarta Post late Thursday night.<\/p>\n
He also said that the Supreme Court would have to embark on
\nmajor internal reforms if it wanted to improve its tarnished
\nimage.<\/p>\n
\"Reforming the internal system to promote transparency and
\ngood administrative practices is desperately needed,\" Johnson
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court, according to Johnson, must put in place
\nclear mechanisms for handling certain types of cases, especially
\nappeals.<\/p>\n
The House will resume the revisions of three other laws -- on
\nthe State Administrative Court, the Public Court and on State
\nProsecutor -- in January or February.<\/p>\n
The House also agreed on Thursday that the Supreme court
\nconsisted of one chairman and two deputies to be in charge of
\njudicial empowerment and administrative affairs, respectively.<\/p>\n
Patrialis Akbar of the Reform faction claimed that the
\nendorsement was not legitimate because only 207 of 500 House
\nmembers attended the meeting. \"It is below the mandatory quorum,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
House deputy speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno argued that the
\nplenary meeting had met the quorum. \"A total of 309 legislators
\nsigned the attendance list. This means that the quorum needs the
\npresence of 155 legislators,\" he theorized.<\/p>\n
Key Articles
\n===============================================================<\/p>\n
In the Judicial Power Law
\n-------------------------
\n* Article 4 (3): All manner of interference with judicial affairs
\nby anyone outside the judicial bodies is prohibited except for
\nstipulations on the Constitution.
\n* Article 5: Justices and court clerks must withdraw if he or she
\nhas a conflict of interest in any case.
\n* Article 43: All assets in the state court, high court, state
\nadministrative court and high state administrative court belong
\nto the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
In the Supreme Court Law
\n------------------------
\n* Article 7: People can be nominated as a Supreme Court justice
\nif they have at least a master's degree in law and at least 25
\nyears of experience in legal affairs.
\n* Article 11: The retirement age of a Supreme Court justice is
\n65, but it can be extended up to 67 under some conditions.
\n* Article 25: Secretary general is changed to Secretary of the
\nSupreme Court.
\n================================================================
\nSources: Revised Laws on Judicial Power and on Supreme Court<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-lifts-hurdle-to-judicial-liberty-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}