Power, money rule RI's judiciary: Experts<\/p>\n
Bernie K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With a United Nations fact-finding mission yet to set foot on
\nIndonesian soil, legal experts said it would likely find here a
\njudiciary far from being independent, and hostage to money and
\npolitics.<\/p>\n
Legal expert Harkristuti Harkrisnowo of the University of
\nIndonesia said corruption, and government and legislative
\ninterference were commonplace in the Indonesian courts.<\/p>\n
\"We know how bad things are here, the police, prosecutors,
\nlawyers and judges,\" Harkristuti said over the weekend.<\/p>\n
So does the government. At its request, the UN will send its
\nspecial rapporteur Dato' Param Cumaraswamy from July 15 to July
\n25 on a mission to assess the country's legal system.<\/p>\n
He will report his findings to the UN Human Rights Commission
\nduring its annual session in April 2003.<\/p>\n
But even before he has to arrive in Jakarta, the international
\ncommunity is already well aware of Indonesia's poor track record.<\/p>\n
The stream of bad news that has flowed out of the country's
\ncommercial court has deterred foreign investors. And the UN has
\npersistently asked for headway to be made in the human rights
\ntribunal on atrocities committed during the 1999 East Timor
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
Cumaraswamy's planned mission comes at a time when the Jakarta
\nCommercial Court has once again drawn international attention
\nwith its controversial bankruptcy ruling against insurance firm
\nPT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI) of Canada.<\/p>\n
AJMI's downfall is yet another clear example of Indonesia's
\nimploding legal system. Other examples abound. Last year, the
\nInternational Finance Corporation (IFC) stumbled over what it
\ncharged were fictitious creditors blocking its attempt to have a
\nlocal company declared bankrupt.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, the IFC suspended its investments here while its
\naffiliate, the World Bank, trimmed its lending to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Such cases have made investors wary, making it hard for the
\ngovernment to attract them amid an already adverse business
\nclimate. Political instability and rampant security threats are
\nother risks investors are trying to avoid when they decide not to
\ncome here.<\/p>\n
Bankruptcy law expert Rahmat Bastian said that just about
\nevery case that went to the Commercial Court ended up
\ndisadvantaging foreign investors.<\/p>\n
All of which helps to explain why foreign companies try to
\nseek justice outside Indonesia whenever possible. Such moves are
\nalready bearing fruit. Singaporean and U.S. courts have issued
\norders to freeze Indonesian assets, something virtually unheard
\nof in the local courts.<\/p>\n
Rahmat said that he saw the judges during the Soeharto era
\ndispensing fairer justice then they do now. \"Today it seems as if
\nthere is no need to be ashamed when taking sides.\"<\/p>\n
While this was apparent in cases where bribery took place, he
\nsaid that in cases filed against the government, the judges too
\ntended to side with the government. \"The government almost never
\nlooses a case logged in the State Administrative Court,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, judges appear not to care much about whether
\ntheir verdicts were justifiable.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti added that some judges felt they could translate
\nthe law the way they saw fit. She said it did happen that judges
\npassed opposing verdicts in two identical cases.<\/p>\n
\"We're loosing the parameters that defines justice,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She said the Indonesian courts were also prone to government
\ninterference as a consequence of politics coming in the way.<\/p>\n
Lack of independence, critics said, was also evident in the
\ncase of Indonesia's human rights tribunal. The trial against
\nmilitary officials implicated in the 1999 violence in East Timor,
\nthey said, had come under pressure from the military.<\/p>\n
Legislator Muhammad Abdul Mochtar said he hoped Indonesia
\ncould make the most of Cumaraswamy's visit.<\/p>\n
\"What we need is thorough legal reforms,\" said Mochtar, a
\nmember of the House of Representatives' Commission II, which is
\nin charge of home and legal affairs.<\/p>",
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