Admiralty courts in the making
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is considering establishing maritime courts to try criminals operating in Indonesian waters, with the Navy arguing that dealing with such cases through the conventional courts is proving ineffective.
Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Slamet Soebijanto said on Wednesday that establishing admiralty courts would mean knowledgeable professionals delivered proper verdicts on maritime crimes.
"Not everyone knows about the real situation at sea, apart from those who deal with maritime affairs. We're talking about unconventional crimes, such as piracy and smuggling," he said after a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission I on defense and foreign affairs.
Slamet said those properly acquainted with the laws of the sea should to be able to produce better and more significant verdicts commensurate with the level of the crimes prosecuted.
Similar such courts had been established and were effective in Britain, he said.
The proposal received a largely positive responses from legislators, who said there was an urgent need to reduce maritime crime, which is increasing in Indonesian waters.
Lawmaker Sutradara Gintings said specific law enforcement for crimes at sea was essential.
"Most of these cases when tried in conventional courts often produce problematic verdicts, which do not have the required deterrent effect," he said.
At Wednesday's hearing, Slamet proposed the Navy should coordinate with other government institutions to come up with a draft law on the creation of the admiralty courts, which would then be submitted with the House.
During the hearing, legislators urged the Navy to increase its cooperation patrolling with Singapore and Malaysia patrolling the Strait of Malacca, a busy international shipping lane that has one of the highest piracy rates in the world.
Legislator Ade Daud Nasution said Indonesia was becoming well known as a safe haven for sea piracy.
"Within the January to March period this year, at least 16 of 56 piracy cases in the world took place in Indonesia. Of 325 cases worldwide last year, 129 occurred in Southeast Asia, 93 of them in Indonesia, while 37 were in the Strait of Malacca," he said.
Slamet said the Navy had concentrated its force in the strait and had divided the 670 kilometer-long area into sectors.
"We hope that by strictly dividing the area by sector, with each area monitored by one unit of force, we can eliminate the crimes there," he said.
The threat of international terrorism in the strait has increased international calls to secure it, and the United States has offered its Navy's services in the area.
The U.S. offer was rejected by legislators here, who said it was a form of American intervention. They argued that only the strait's littoral states, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, should patrol it.