A startling turn

A startling turn

A letter from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, dated
April 5, 1995, and addressed to the Jayapura Court of Justice in
Irian Jaya has prompted various reactions and comments.

In his letter, the Chief Justice stated that the guilty
parties in the case in question -- the Governor of the Province
of Irian Jaya, the Head of Provincial Office of Agricultural
Estates, the Head of the Forestry Service, the Head of the
provincial Office of Animal Husbandry, and the Head of the
Fishery Service -- are not public legal entities with properties
of their own.

For that reason, the letter said, the Supreme Court's earlier
ruling regarding their obligation to pay Rp 18.6 billion in
compensation for land is non-executable. The letter effectively
terminates the efforts of Hanoch Hebe Ohee, who has since 1984
tried to push his case concerning a dispute over 62 hectares of
land belonging to the Ongge and Hanoch keret (sub-clans).

The Chief Justice's letter, which annuls a final ruling made
by the Supreme Court, has provoked a number of reactions and
comments. From the aspect of procedure, it is being questioned
whether a final ruling, coming from that same institution, can be
so easily annulled. From the viewpoint of substance, or the
common sense of justice, the question is whether or not the land
in question did legitimately belong to the Ongge and Hanoch sub-
clans, and whether the government has the right to appropriate it
without further ado.

Laws become effective not because they are proclaimed, but
because they are used in practice. It is through this practice
that precedents and legal conduct are established. It is in this
manner that the constitutional state and the practice of legal
principles are turned into reality.

-- Kompas, Jakarta