'Conflicting laws halt judicial reform'

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chief Justice Bagir Manan said on Monday the country's failure to speed up reform within the judiciary was the result of conflicting laws and regulations.

Bagir said that the law making process was often dominated by a conflict of interests among influential groups.

"This situation has brought about contradictory and inapplicable laws and regulations," he said in his key note speech at the opening of a seminar on corruption eradication organized by the National Law Commission (KHN) here.

The condition had worsened, he said, because both judges and officials in the court could not maintain their good image.

Similarly, the police, state prosecutors, lawyers, immigration officials and officials of district courts struggled to win the respect of the public.

Bagir disclosed that the House of Representatives would revise laws on the Supreme Court, State Administrative Court, Public Court, state prosecutors, and on the justice ministry.

He said he expected the amendment would strengthen judicial reform.

After the seminar, Bagir said his office was preparing an "ad hoc court" to hear corruption cases, which would be initiated in Central Jakarta.

According to Bagir, his office had already identified judges to be assigned to the ad hoc court.

Also speaking in the seminar were chairman of Muhammadiyah Achmad Syafii Maarif, sociologist Mely G. Tan, and rights activist Bambang Widjojanto.

Syafii suggested that the nation emulate the tough policy of the Chinese government in dealing with corruption.

"Imposing stricter punishments on corrupters - like what the Chinese government is practicing - should be taken into consideration," he said, adding that the future of the nation depended on success in uprooting corruption.

Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim groups, have declared a moral movement against corruption.

Meanwhile, Bambang said the failure of the nation to eradicate corruption was blamed on its inability to clearly describe corruption.

He suggested that acts of corruption be described in the mother language of local people to avoid a gap between the people's perception and reality.

Bambang said he saw no comprehensive enforcement of the anticorruption law, therefore it could not serve as the pillar of corruption eradication.

"There is neither an action plan nor a blueprint for the corruption eradication drive. Also, there is no coordination among state institutions," he said.

Sociologist Mely G. Tan said corruption, just like other crimes, was triggered by both the presence of opportunity and the intent of the individual.