Todung turns down Supreme Court offer<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Renowned lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis turned down
\non Tuesday his nomination by the government to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
According to a statement made available to The Jakarta Post,
\nTodung declined the offer, saying he was focusing his work on
\nimproving the profession of advocates. He is currently the deputy
\nof the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin).<\/p>\n
\"To be nominated as a justice of the Supreme Court is the
\nhighest recognition of someone's integrity and intellect in law,\"
\nTodung said, adding \"I am not yet able to accept the honor\".<\/p>\n
Todung is one of the candidates proposed by the government,
\nalong with Benjamin Mangkoedilaga, Bagir Manan and M. Mahfud.<\/p>\n
Among 51 Supreme Court justices, eight positions are still
\nvacant.<\/p>\n
In a departure from past practices, nominations are now not
\nlimited to career judges proposed by the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
In his written statement, Todung also made a number of
\nsuggestions regarding the Supreme Court, including that there
\nshould be no more than 15 Supreme Court justices.<\/p>\n
Todung also appealed for a basic change in the workings of the
\nSupreme Court, saying it should only handle cases related to
\nconstitutional rights and basic human rights.<\/p>\n
Separately, Bagir, one of the government nominees and a law
\nlecturer from Padjajaran University in Bandung, said he was not
\nreally thinking about his appointment.<\/p>\n
\"It's too early to assume that I'll get the position,\" Bagir
\ntold the Post by phone.<\/p>\n
Bagir said that he accepted the nomination only to support the
\natmosphere of change in the nomination process.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, the local branch of the Legal Aid
\nFoundation called on House of Representatives Speaker Akbar
\nTandjung to nominate its former director, Artidjo Alkostar, 52,
\nhead of the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The head of the foundation's operational department, A. Budi
\nHartono, said the appointment of an honest and clean individual
\nwas a key component to cleaning out the court system.<\/p>\n
\"The court mafia can only be eradicated if the Supreme Court
\nis chaired by a person like Artidjo,\" he said.(08\/44)<\/p>",
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