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