Reform the judiciary<\/p>\n
Last week's court ruling acquitting businessman Djoko Tjandra
\nof corruption charges in the high-profile Bank Bali scandal is a
\nmajor setback for the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid.
\nHere is a case which has consumed a great deal of national and
\ninternational attention since coming to light in July. This case
\nhas all the indications of a conspiracy at the highest levels,
\ninvolving top politicians of the time and affecting taxpayers'
\nmoney as well as that of the International Monetary Fund. For the
\nSouth Jakarta District Court to dismiss the case on the technical
\ngrounds that this is a commercial dispute and should be tried as
\na civil rather than a criminal case is an insult to the
\nintelligence of anyone with a sense of justice.<\/p>\n
The court ruling has sent a dire warning to the government and
\nthe police that other corruption cases they are currently
\npursuing may simply be dismissed if they fall into the hands of
\nthe wrong judges, like those who heard Djoko Tjandra's case. It
\nhas undermined the investigation and prosecution of all the other
\nsuspects in the Bank Bali scandal. But more than that, the ruling
\nhas put a large dent on the government's anticorruption campaign.
\nIt has sent the wrong signal to other alleged corrupters,
\nincluding former president Soeharto and his children and cronies,
\nwho must now feel that they too will likely go free.<\/p>\n
While Attorney General Marzuki Darusman must take some of the
\nblame for the incompetence of his staff in preparing Djoko's
\ncase, there is no denying that the biggest problem lies with the
\njudges at the South Jakarta District Court, who are completely
\ninsensitive to the feelings of the public. If there is any
\nvaluable lesson to learn from this legal travesty, it is that the
\ncase confirms our suspicion that reform has yet to touch the
\njudiciary.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time the judiciary has acted in ways
\nthat run counter to the reformist trend, even when one of the
\nprimary goals of reform is to return the rule of law, or in
\npopular parlance the supremacy of law, to the country. On several
\noccasions, including Djoko's case, it was the judiciary more than
\nany other institution in the country that made a mockery of the
\nlaw. The judiciary appears to be completely out of sync with the
\nrest of the nation.<\/p>\n
This should come as no surprise, however. The judiciary,
\nparticularly the courts, is still run mostly by people from the
\nold regime. Like politicians of that recent bygone era, these
\njudges were notorious for blatantly supporting the tyrannical New
\nOrder government. The judiciary is the last bastion of the
\nSoeharto regime, and this goes a long way toward explaining why
\nmany of the efforts to prosecute corrupters and human rights
\nabusers from that era have failed upon reaching the courts.<\/p>\n
The judiciary is the only government branch that has yet to be
\nreformed. The legislative branch was reformed through the
\ncountry's first democratic general election in over 40 years in
\nJune. Consequently, the nation was given a government of the
\npeople, in the true sense of the word, with the election of
\nPresident Abdurrahman in October.<\/p>\n
The judiciary, however, has shown resistance to change. The
\nSupreme Court last week presented a list of candidates to fill
\nthe upcoming vacancies on the court, including the position of
\nchief justice. Not surprisingly, all of the presented candidates
\nwere sitting judges. A notable exclusion from the list was
\nBenjamin Mangkoedilaga, a retired judge with an impeccably clean
\nrecord and reputation who was also President Abdurrahman's choice
\nfor chief justice. It was with relief that we learned the
\ngovernment quickly came up last week with its own list of
\ncandidates, a list that includes not only Benjamin but also
\nTodung Mulya Lubis, a lawyer who has consistently fought to clean
\nup the judiciary from the outside.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman has proven his ability to reform the
\npowerful military by replacing its top leadership. His maneuvers
\non this front were accompanied by charges of meddling in the
\nmilitary's internal affairs, charges he dismissed. Now he is
\nabout to step on more toes by targeting the judiciary. The
\ncourt's decision to acquit Djoko Tjandra has only served to
\nillustrate where the President's next priority should lie now
\nthat he has brought the military under control. Without reforming
\nthe judiciary, all current investigations of corruption and human
\nrights abuses are likely doomed to fail. And we can all forget
\nabout the rule of law.<\/p>\n
Unlike the military, however, reforming the judiciary is
\noutside the President's constitutional powers. Abdurrahman will
\nnot likely be able to effect judicial reform single-handedly the
\nway he did with the military, even if he has the support of the
\npublic. He will need the help of the House of Representatives. In
\nfact, it will take a joint effort on the part of the executive
\nand legislative branches to bring the judiciary in line with the
\nreformist trend. The ball is now in the House's court.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/reform-the-judiciary-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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