Marianna, Syamsuhadi elected deputies<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court has elected two new deputy chief justices to
\nhelp repair the highest judicial tribunal's badly-tarnished image
\nand speed up its sluggish internal reform process.<\/p>\n
Marianna Sutadi Nasution and Syamsuhadi Irsad, two out of the
\n40 justices sitting on the Supreme Court, emerged as the victors
\nin the second round of what appeared to be a free and fair
\nselection process held at the Supreme Court building on Jl.
\nMerdeka Utara, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Marianna gained 28 of the 38 votes in the first round and
\nSyamsuhadi won 20 votes in the second round. Other candidates,
\nincluding German Hoediarto and Paulus Effendy Lotulung, failed to
\nwin major support in either round.<\/p>\n
Marianna is currently the court's director of supervision
\nwhile Syamsuhadi is a specialist in religious law.<\/p>\n
All of the candidates pledged loyalty to Chief Justice Bagir
\nManan and support the blueprint for the reform of Supreme Court
\nwhen presenting their visions and mission statements before the
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Syamsuhadi said he would be a good mediator and was skilled in
\ncoordinating with his subordinates.<\/p>\n
The blueprint, which was designed by a non-governmental
\norganization and financed by a number of foreign donors, has won
\nthe full support of the chief justice. But, the candidates had
\nlittle to say about how they would implement it when presenting
\ntheir vision and mission statements.<\/p>\n
Newly-enacted Law No. 4\/2004 on the Supreme Court requires the
\nCourt to have two deputy chief justice posts. One of these
\ndeputies will have the principal duty of assisting the chief
\njustice to case management, while the other deputy's main duty
\nwill be to handle non-judicial matters.<\/p>\n
The judicial system here has come under sustained fire for
\nwidespread corruption.<\/p>\n
Bagir has yet to determine which of the deputy chief justices
\nwill get which job.<\/p>\n
Before the law's enactment, the supreme court had only one
\ndeputy. This position has been vacant since deputy chief justice
\nTaufik retired in 2002.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Iskandar Sonhadji expressed his skepticism that the two
\nnew deputies would be able to help accelerate the sluggish pace
\nof internal reform in the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
\"The election was transparent but it was not accountable. I am
\nwondering whether they will be able to play a significant role in
\nthe Supreme Court, especially having regard to their \"pledges of
\nallegiance\".<\/p>\n
I'm not sure that they are courageous enough to make new
\nbreakthroughs in our legal system without the approval of the
\nchief justice,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
According to Iskandar, entrusting the chief justice alone to
\nhandle internal reform was also too risky as the success of such
\na program should not depend on one person.<\/p>\n
He said Bagir was a reformist but he would be unable to do
\neverything he wanted to do as his reforms had raised the hackles
\nof subordinates unwilling to see the gravy train being pulled
\naway from them.<\/p>\n
\"The court leadership must be brave enough to reprimand
\nsubordinates who fail to support the reform program,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/marianna-syamsuhadi-elected-deputies-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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