Soerjono proposes changes in RI's judicial system<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Chief Justice R. Soerjono warned yesterday that
\nthe huge backlog of appeal cases in his office will keep mounting
\nunless the laws regulating the judicial system are amended.<\/p>\n
Both the judiciary law of 1970 and the Supreme Court law of
\n1985 allow justice seekers to appeal to the Supreme Court, which
\nhas resulted in a huge backlog of appeal cases.<\/p>\n
Soerjono said that in the future, the kinds of cases that may
\nbe brought to the Supreme Court will have to be restricted and
\nminor cases handled by lower courts.<\/p>\n
\"The back cases will never be resolved unless the laws are
\nrevised,\" he told journalists after addressing a seminar on the
\nlegal system at Golkar headquarters.<\/p>\n
Currently there are an estimated 17,000 cases pending Supreme
\nCourt settlement and the number increases by about 2,000 each
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Soerjono said the stack will grow even faster because rapid
\neconomic development has also brought with it financial crime.
\nMany of these cases will no doubt be addressed at the highest
\nlevel, compounded by the fact that Indonesia has yet to pass any
\nstatutes of limitations.<\/p>\n
In terms of financial cases in Britain, for example, only
\ncases with a nominal value of at least 5,000 pounds sterling can
\nbe brought to the supreme court.<\/p>\n
\"Cases with a nominal value below 5,000 pounds sterling are
\nsupposed to be settled at the district court level,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The one-day seminar discussing how to solve the Supreme
\nCourt's problem of backlog also featured senior judge Yahya
\nHarahap, academic Harjono from the Airlangga University in
\nSurabaya, and Dr. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a lecturer at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Harahap said the Supreme Court would never be able to finish
\nthe cases on its desks by simply recruiting more senior judges,
\nthe system it presently employs.<\/p>\n
\"The senior judges already number 51 and the problems remain
\nunresolved,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the number of cases brought to the Supreme Court
\nrapidly increased when the court issued a ruling requiring
\ndistrict and high courts to complete each case in less than six
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Credibility<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the problem was just one of several things
\ndamaging the credibility of the Supreme Court in the eyes of the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Another, he specifically pointed out, was the lack of
\nprofessionalism and a sound work ethic to guide Indonesian
\njudges. Many are dissatisfied with their verdicts and encouraged
\nto appeal.<\/p>\n
He also pointed at legal professions, especially lawyers,
\nwhich often encourage their clients to appeal to higher courts,
\neven without sufficient legal grounds to do so.<\/p>\n
Harahap suggested the establishment of an independent
\nmediatory body, commonly practiced in the United States and
\nAustralia, to be in charge of determining the worthiness of a
\ncase appeal.<\/p>\n
He said the body would encourage settlements \"in a spirit of
\nbrotherhood.\"<\/p>\n
Settling disputes with the help of a mediatory body would save
\na lot of money and also the time of disputing parties, he added.<\/p>\n
Harkristuti, however, questioned the effectiveness of such
\nmediatory body and said, \"Justice delayed means justice denied,
\nwhile justice hurried also means justice denied.\" (imn)<\/p>",
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