Bagir: Court determined to win public trust

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Supreme Court said in its 2004 annual report that it was still struggling to restore public trust in the country's weak judicial system, a core part of the reform drive launched in 2003.

Chief Justice Bagir Manan said that one of the top priorities for the court reform program was "to win back the public trust by disciplining judges who commit violations."

Speaking at a launching ceremony on Thursday for the annual report, Bagir explained that among the obstacles to speeding up the reform program was a lack of personnel to monitor judges and limited government funds.

The monitoring and supervision unit of the Supreme Court, which was established in June 2003, has obtained 386 complaints involving alleged violations by judges and court clerks, he said.

Bagir said that most of the complaints were either still being verified or investigated because of a lack of staff in the monitoring unit, which currently only has 30 staff members to oversee some 5,000 judges, 10,000 court clerks and 10,000 bailiffs/process servers across the country.

He said that the Supreme Court have dismissed one judge and one court clerk, and had imposed other forms of punishment on those found guilty of violating court rules and ethics.

Bagir also complained about a lack of government funds to finance the reform program.

While the Supreme Court needed some Rp 5 trillion (US$537.63 million) for its annual operations and to finance the reform program, the government only provided 20 percent of this figure last year.

"Sufficient funding is essential to prevent judges, court clerks and court officials from becoming involved in violations," he said.

But despite the problems, the Supreme Court would press ahead with the reform program. Bagir did not provide any details of the programs involved.

"Our targets are to improve public trust in the judiciary, boost anticorruption efforts and improve our services to the public," Bagir said.

Many people, including foreign investors, have long complained about the country's weak and corrupt court system. Experts have said that establishing a clean and credible judicial system is crucial to helping attract badly needed investment to the country.

The Supreme Court unveiled its annual report to the public for the first time on Thursday. From 2001 to 2004, it presented its annual report to the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Before 2001, it had no obligation to prepare an accountability report.

Bagir said that the publication of the annual report was part of the effort to create transparency.

"The aim of presenting the Supreme Court's annual accountability report to the public is to enable legal observers and stakeholders to monitor the performance of the judiciary and to provide input for the sake of the independence of the judiciary," he told the ceremony.

He said that in the future, the Supreme Court would present its annual accountability report to the public every March 31, which marked the anniversary of the rolling out of the "one roof" judicial system in the country."