Plan to tighten appeal request wins support<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Deputy Chief of the Jakarta Prosecutor's
\nOffice, Tjokorda Made Ram, yesterday hailed Chief Justice
\nSoerjono's plan to tighten the criteria for appeals to the
\nSupreme Court against lower court verdicts.<\/p>\n
\"We, the prosecutors, welcome the chief justice's idea because
\nthe plan will decrease the number of parties appealing against
\nlower court judgments when they know the chance of winning on
\nappeal is slim,\" Tjokorda said.<\/p>\n
Tjokorda pointed out that the prosecutor's office is expected
\nto hold fast, inexpensive and fair trials which can be arduous
\nand for which it gains no advantage from.<\/p>\n
He also urged lawyers and their clients not to prolong the
\nlegal process in order to delay having to pay financial damages
\nor to postpone lower court rulings. It is common knowledge that
\nin civil cases, filing an appeal against a lower court ruling has
\nbeen widely used as a delaying tactic.<\/p>\n
The chief justice has said that certain types of cases could
\nbe barred from being heard in the Supreme Court. In civil cases
\nthis would include the value of compensation and penalties handed
\ndown by the lower court.<\/p>\n
Due to the sensitive nature of the plan, Soerjono gave his
\nassurances that the authorities will move cautiously before
\napplying it, including discussing it with various parties and
\nexperts.<\/p>\n
Currently, almost any case can be brought to the Supreme
\nCourt, even civil cases where the sum of damages is very small.<\/p>\n
Soerjono said he inherited approximately 16,000 appeal cases
\nfrom his predecessor when he assumed the position of head of the
\nSupreme Court last November. In the absence of any restrictions,
\nthe court receives around 2,000 new appeal cases each year.<\/p>\n
Tjokorda said that the prosecutors are concentrating less on
\nthe huge backlog of unsettled appeal cases because, especially
\nwith criminal cases.<\/p>\n
Tjokorda, however, admitted that the chief justice's proposal
\nwill face a hard challenge because every disputing party has the
\ntendency to seek justice at the higher courts.<\/p>\n
The proposal will be harder to apply as either the Criminal
\nProcedure Code or the Civil Procedure Code enables any party to
\nfile an appeal to the higher courts if he or she considers a
\ncourt ruling is not just, he said.<\/p>\n
Tjokorda is expected to leave his present post next week as he
\nwill be assigned as the new Central Kalimantan prosecutor's
\noffice chief.<\/p>\n
A week after the plan was announced, noted legal experts such
\nas Nursyahbani Katjasungkana and Satjipto Rahardjo, agreed that
\nlimitations will reduce the heavy burden of the supreme court.<\/p>\n
However, Nursyahbani has said that such limitations should not
\nbe applied to criminal cases because she believes that any person
\nconvicted in a criminal case has the right to appeal even if the
\nlower court sentences him to just one day imprisonment. (mas)<\/p>",
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