Officials' must obey court's summon, Chief Justice says<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Chief Justice R. Soerjono reminded government
\nofficials yesterday that their presence was mandatory when they
\nare summoned by the state administrative court in connection with
\nany legal suit filed against them.<\/p>\n
\"The law authorizes the State Administrative Court to force
\ngovernment officials to appear in court as scheduled,\" Soerjono
\ntold reporters after installing several new heads of High State
\nAdministrative Court.<\/p>\n
He said the head of the State Administrative Court would
\nrepeat his summons if the official fails to show up. If he does
\nnot respond to the third call, the court may lodge a complaint
\nwith the official's superior, he added.<\/p>\n
Requiring government officials to appear in the state
\nadministrative court has long been debated here.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN Jakarta) had to
\nissue three letters of summons in 1992 to make the then Jakarta's
\nDeputy Governor Basofi Sudirman appear at the trial. Basofi had
\nto testify in a dispute over a plot of land on Jl. Gatot Subroto
\nin South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He was asked to appear because he was the one who violated a
\ncourt ruling which put the land on status quo until a final
\ndecision was reached.<\/p>\n
In the latest case, Minister of Information Harmoko failed to
\npresent his defense on time as required by the State
\nAdministrative Court here which handled a law suit filed against
\nhim for banning Tempo magazine in June for dubious reasons.<\/p>\n
A court session was originally to hear Harmoko's defense early
\nthis month, but his lawyer R. Wiyono said that his client needed
\nmore time to respond to the lawsuit filed by Goenawan Mohamad,
\nthe proprietor of the closed weekly.<\/p>\n
Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman, who attended yesterday's
\ninauguration ceremony, said that a government official does not
\nhave to appear in court.<\/p>\n
\"The official's presence could be delegated to any authorized
\nperson,\" he said. \"The official's presence is needed only for
\ncrucial matters, which require him to testify in court in
\nperson,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Quality<\/p>\n
Soerjono said that the recent raise in salaries must encourage
\ncorps of judges, including those of the State Administrative
\nCourt, to improve their performance and services.<\/p>\n
\"Judges should improve the quality of their decisions,\" he
\nsaid. He added that judges' decisions should be free from
\nexternal intervention.<\/p>\n
The three judges of high court inaugurated yesterday were
\nCharis Soebijanto as the new head of the Jakarta High State
\nAdministrative Court, Marcus Lande as the new head of the Medan
\nHigh State Administrative Court in North Sumatra, and Gustaf
\nArmenia Pasaribu as the new head of the Ujungpandang High State
\nAdministrative Court in South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Charis, who was former head of the Medan High State
\nAdministrative Court, replaces R. Soebandono who is entering the
\nperiod of retirement, while Marcus, former head of the
\nUjungpandang High State Administrative Court replaces Charis'
\nposition and Gustaf, former deputy head of the Medan High State
\nAdministrative Court, is to replace Marcus.(imn)<\/p>",
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