Anticorruption body calls for audit of judges' wealth
Anticorruption body calls for audit of judges' wealth
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It is often said in Indonesia that money talks, justice walks.
Those judges who abide by this motto could and should be
stopped in their tracks if the government regularly audited their
wealth, an anticorruption watchdog said on Monday.
Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) chairman Teten Masduki said
that transparency was the key to creating an impartial judiciary.
"There must be routine checks on the wealth of judges," he
said.
Judicial independence, he said, depended on corruption-free
courts, starting with the Supreme Court.
The proposed judicial commission, he said, should not merely
appoint judges to the Supreme Court, but should also verify their
wealth on a regular bases.
The establishment of the judicial commission has been mandated
by the third amendment to the 1945 Constitution.
Members of the commission will be appointed by the President
based upon the approval of the House of Representatives.
Its job will be to name candidates for judgeships while also
ensuring the dignity and integrity of the judiciary.
Teten argued, however, that the commission should also audit
the wealth of the judges.
Next to checking the wealth of judges, Teten said the
commission should also screen verdicts that reeked of bribery.
Teten's call came after the government said it would inspect
the bank accounts of the three judges who last month declared
Canada-based insurance firm PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife (AJMI)
bankrupt.
The verdict, handed down despite AJMI's solid financial
position, prompted the government to probe the case and the three
judges involved. Suspicions of bribery encouraged the government
to take the unusual step of seeking to look into their bank
accounts.
The Supreme Court overturned the bankruptcy ruling last
Friday. However, it cited procedural violations rather than a
weak verdict as its reason.
Teten said judicial independence would remain elusive as long
as corruption continued to stigmatize the Supreme Court. "It is
well known that people there often have to bribe their way up."
He suggested that the judicial commission consist of people
from outside the Supreme Court.
Rudy Satrio, a legal expert from the University of Indonesia,
added that the President and the House must only select credible
people to be members of the commission.
He warned that the commission could become another tool for
intimidation if its members lacked integrity.
Meanwhile, legislator Muhammad Abdul Mochtar from House
Commission II on legal affairs said the government should plug
loopholes in many of the country's laws that made rampant bribery
possible.
The government already plans to revise the bankruptcy law as
it allows solvent companies to be declared bankrupt.
Indonesia's notorious courts have been a key deterrent to
foreign investors, depriving the nation of much-needed capital to
boost economic growth.
In light of this, the government has invited a United Nations
fact-finding mission to assess Indonesia's legal system.
Nonetheless, interference from the government has also played
a role in undermining judicial independence.
The legislators planning the judicial commission have in mind
a judiciary that is free of government interference.
Under present regulations, it is the Ministry of Justice and
Human Rights that appoints and assigns judges.
"It's hard to avoid pressure from the government if the judges
still fear they may be assigned to remote places," said Rudy
Satrio.