Admiralty courts in the making

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.