Akbar acquittal raises doubts over prospects for judicial reform

Akbar acquittal raises doubts over prospects for judicial reform

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Judicial reform will face additional challenges following the
controversial acquittal of House of Representatives Speaker Akbar
Tandjung on corruption charges, legal observers said.

Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a member of the National Law
Commission, said on Tuesday the political will of top leaders was
a major requirement for judicial reform.

"I personally think political will is the major condition for
judicial reform, which must be accompanied by a commitment on the
part of law enforcers to support reform," Harkristuti said after
a discussion on the prospects of judicial reform held by the
Indonesia-Japan Forum.

Harkristuti referred to the fact that Akbar, who chairs the
Golkar Party, is planning a run for the presidency this year.

"This situation is very critical (for judicial reform). We
must do our best to ensure that judicial reform in the Supreme
Court, the Attorney General's Office and the National Police
moves in the right direction," she said.

Indonesia will hold a legislative election in April and a
presidential election in July.

A series of surveys indicate that a significant number of
voters support the Golkar Party, the political vehicle of the New
Order regime.

Golkar is seen as the main challenger to the ruling Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which according to senior
member Kwik Kian Gie is also struggling with corruption.

The head of the Judiciary Independency Advocation Institute,
Rifqi S. Assegaf, who is actively assisting the Supreme Court's
reform efforts, said he was pessimistic about the future of
judicial reform following Akbar's acquittal.

However, he believes there was no direct political
intervention in the Supreme Court's decision to acquit Akbar.

"There is always political intervention with the Attorney
General's Office and the National Police because they are part of
the government, but that supposedly is not the case with the
Supreme Court because the law guarantees its independence," Rifqi
said.

The government, he said, could only interfere with the Supreme
Court by manipulating its annual budget. But, Rifqi said, that
was unlikely.

Saying that both the Attorney General's Office and the
National Police faced greater challenges than the Supreme Court
in implementing internal reforms, he said the biggest challenge
facing the court was how to improve the dignity of the justices.

"They had been undermined for years, and now they have to
develop their dignity as members of the court," Rifqi said.

He said the prospects for reform in the Supreme Court lay in
the hands of its leadership.

"The Supreme Court is lucky enough to have open-minded
leadership that welcomes assistance from other institutions and
the public," Rifqi said.

This is similar to the view of Harkristuti, who said improving
law enforcement institutions was largely up to the leaders of the
institutions, particularly considering Indonesia's patriarchal
society.

"Law enforcers here always follow the actions of their
leaders. Whatever the leaders do, they will follow suit. If the
leaders do good, law enforcers will follow, and vice versa," she
said.