Professionalism needed to help check bribery<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman proposed
\nyesterday that the professionalism of police, prosecutors and
\njudges be improved to help minimize bribery in the legal system.<\/p>\n
He told journalists after meeting with visiting Malaysian
\nChief Justice Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mohd Eusoff Chin that judges
\nwere not alone in taking bribes, a phenomenon that is believed to
\nbe rife in the local legal system.<\/p>\n
\"We need to make preventive efforts to better the integrity
\nand professionalism of judges, prosecutors, police corps as well
\nas lawyers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The minister admitted that small salary levels are also partly
\nto blame for bribery practices, which have come under public
\nscrutiny again over the past weeks.<\/p>\n
Eusoff Chin, who is here to study the local legal system, told
\nreporters that bribery did not exist in the Malaysian legal
\nsystem, largely because of effective supervision.<\/p>\n
\"As far as I know, no bribery cases have been addressed in the
\nMalaysian courts,\" Eusoff Chin said.<\/p>\n
He said that the salaries of Malaysian judges were more than
\nenough to cover their daily needs. \"Their salaries are based on
\nan average Malaysian's purchasing power,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, he declined to reveal the average salary of judges in
\nhis country, repeating that the amount was good enough for them.<\/p>\n
Eusoff Chin said that the Malaysian government controls the
\nattitudes and performances of its judges by means of their
\nestablished code of ethics.<\/p>\n
He said that there had been no judges terminated for bribery
\nor attitude problems. \"Only several judges have been ordered to
\nretire due to illness,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Eusoff Chin said he was here for a comparative study on both
\ncountries' legal systems, including the procedure of trials from
\nthe lowest courts to the highest court.<\/p>\n
During his three-day visit, ending today, he met Indonesian
\nChief Justice R. Soerjono and had an opportunity to attend a
\ntrial at the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday.<\/p>\n
He also paid a courtesy call on Attorney General Singgih
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We probably will adopt Indonesia's legal procedures, though
\nmade applicable to the Malaysian legal system,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Chin also said that he would like to learn how Indonesia
\ncan use Bahasa Indonesia in its legal system.<\/p>\n
\"I notice that many legal terms have been translated into
\nIndonesian, instead of using Dutch terms,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Many Indonesian laws were made during the Dutch colonial era.<\/p>\n
Eusoff Chin said that in Malaysia, people still fail to use a
\nhomogeneous language at different court levels. Although the
\nlower courts use Malay in their trials, English is used for their
\nmore difficult cases, while some of the appellate courts still
\nchoose English over Malay.<\/p>\n
Eusoff Chin is scheduled to pay a visit to the Agency for the
\nDevelopment of National Law today.(imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/professionalism-needed-to-help-check-bribery-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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