Bankruptcy courts for four major cities

Bankruptcy courts for four major cities

JAKARTA (JP): Chief Judge of the Surabaya District Court
Arsyad Sanusi has been appointed as the chief judge of the newly
established Surabaya Commercial Court, an informed judge said.

"And the former Jakarta Commercial Court's judge, Hirman
Purwanasuma, will serve as the vice chief judge of the Surabaya
Commercial Court," Jakarta Commercial Court's Judge Mahdi
Soroinda Nasution told journalists here.

He said the announcement of the appointment was made by
Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra during the
official opening of the new Surabaya, Semarang, Makassar and
Medan commercial courts on Monday in Surabaya, East Java.

"The ceremony was also attended by the chief and vice chief
Justices of the Supreme Court, some other judges and prominent
lawyers," he said.

Each commercial court in those four cities would consist of
about seven judges, as compared to 16 judges at the Jakarta
Commercial Court, Mahdi added.

Bankruptcy lawyer Lucas of Lucas & Partners told The Jakarta
Post that Subardi and Syamsuril, respectively chief judges of
Semarang and Medan District Courts were appointed chief judges of
commercial courts in their respective cities.

These chief judges are also holding concurrent positions as
the chief judges of their respective district courts and the
commercial court, Lucas added.

While the position of chief judge at the Makassar Commercial
Court is still vacant, vice chief Judge Untung Haryadi (former
Jakarta Commercial Court judge) would simultaneously take the
chief judge position temporarily, Lucas said.

Indonesia has so far set up only one commercial court in
Jakarta -- also known as a bankruptcy court -- since the
bankruptcy law became effective in October 1998.

Since then, the commercial court has declared dozens of
companies bankrupt, but most of these were small companies, while
larger companies have fared better.

Analysts suspect big companies of using their financial
resources to influence the court's verdict.

"There has been an increasing number of weird verdicts made by
the commercial courts which so clearly contradict the 1998 Law on
Bankruptcy," one analyst said. (udi)