The new Attorney General: Enduring against long odds<\/p>\n
Mas Achmad Santosa and Nenad Bago, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Abdul Rachman Saleh was sworn in as attorney general in
\nOctober, raising hopes that the efficient defense of public
\ninterests would be realized through an ethical and professional
\nAttorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
The high expectations placed on the new attorney general are
\nbased on two well-founded presumptions: That the newly founded
\nCorruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will not be able to
\neradicate corruption single-handedly; and that Abdul Rachman
\nSaleh is a man with a clean track record and proven integrity,
\nwho can defend public interests through an independent and
\nimpartial Attorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
The new attorney general gained a reputation as a man of
\nintegrity during his time as head of the Jakarta Legal Aid Office
\n(one of the oldest and most respected legal aid offices in
\nIndonesia) and as the Supreme Court's junior chief justice for
\nsupervision. However, what has won him popular support, and
\nboosted his image more than anything else, is the fact that Abdul
\nRachman was the only judge on the Supreme Court panel who refused
\nto overturn the decision of the State Court and the High Court,
\nwhich found former House of Representatives speaker Akbar
\nTandjung guilty of misusing over US$4 million in state funds
\nallocated to feed the poor.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, from the outset there were doubts that the new
\nattorney general would succeed in improving the performance of
\nhis office. Such doubts are mostly supported by the reasoning
\nthat the majority of prosecutors within the Attorney General's
\nOffice have been -- and are -- enjoying large benefits from the
\nexisting situation, and that they will strongly resist any
\ninitiatives that could lead to reform.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, many predict that Abdurrahman will succeed
\nand efficiently confront the challenges of the eradication of
\ncorruption, both within his office and throughout the country.
\nThese predictions are based on President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono's full support of him. Moreover, both the President and
\nthe attorney general are exposed to unprecedented and continuous
\ndomestic and international pressure to boost anticorruption and
\ngovernance reform efforts.<\/p>\n
Although the attorney general's strategy choices for reform
\nare numerous, it seems that the introduction of the following
\nreform actions within his office should be prioritized:<\/p>\n
* The nomination for appointment (to the President) of a vice-
\nattorney general, who would support reform efforts within the
\noffice;<\/p>\n
* The establishment of two task forces: One tasked with the
\nexecution and monitoring of the institutional reform agenda as
\nagreed during the Law Summit III, and the second assisting deputy
\nattorney general for special crimes (JAMPIDSUS) to reopen the
\ninvestigation, prosecution or review of those prosecution cases
\nthat are not being processed in an efficient manner, or that have
\nended in an order to stop investigation (SP3).<\/p>\n
In his efforts to reform the prosecution from within, the
\nattorney general would be well-advised to reach for assistance
\nfrom groups outside the prosecution service: Members of the House
\n-- particularly members of Commission III dealing with law-
\nrelated matters -- can provide crucial political support; civil
\nsociety organizations can offer valuable experience in the fields
\nof legal reform and anticorruption efforts; members of reformist
\nacademic circles can both offer expertise and generate further
\npublic support of the reform.<\/p>\n
Supervision of the performance of prosecutors is also a
\ncrucial element of the successful reform of the public
\nprosecution. Presently, the legal framework provides an internal
\ncontrol supervision mechanism in the form of the Public
\nProsecutor's Honor Council (Jamwas), which has proven to be
\ninadequate in dealing with disciplinary and ethical offenses
\nwithin the public prosecution service in an efficient manner.<\/p>\n
This inadequacy has prompted the need for the establishment of
\nan external control mechanism, preferably in the form of a Public
\nProsecution Service Commission. Abdul Rachman has announced that
\nhe will soon present the names of candidates for membership and
\nthe structure of the planned commission to the President.<\/p>\n
The idea for its establishment is based on Article 38 of Law
\n16\/2004, which empowers the President to establish a commission
\nto enhance the performance of the prosecution service.<\/p>\n
The Partnership for Governance Reform recently organized a
\nseminar on the establishment of the commission. During the
\nseminar, the Partnership proposed a model for the commission
\ncomprising advisory (internal management), supervisory
\n(performance) and disciplinary (performance and ethical behavior)
\npowers over the prosecution service and its members.<\/p>\n
This model is the result of the analysis of the comparative
\nstudy of the roles and status of the Public Prosecution of 31
\ncountries, as well as a comparative study of the structure and
\ncompetence of eight judicial\/prosecutorial commissions worldwide.
\nAs expected, reactions to the proposed model were adverse,
\nranging from support to strong opposition.<\/p>\n
However, it is clear that if the purpose of this commission is
\nto improve the performance of the prosecutorial service, then its
\ncompetence should surely go beyond an advisory role on an ad hoc
\nbasis. The primary criteria of measuring the prosecution's
\nperformance should be the impartiality, integrity and ethical
\nbehavior of prosecutors.<\/p>\n
Clearly, the process of the establishment of the new
\ncommission will require the cooperation of the President, the
\nlegislature and the attorney general. The selection process of
\nthe members of the new commission is a crucial first step in
\norder to ensure that its members have clean track records,
\nintegrity and the necessary expertise.<\/p>\n
The writer are advisors for the Legal and Judicial Reform
\nPartnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia.<\/p>",
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