Court drafts penalty for professional misconduct
Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
The Supreme Court has implemented a code of conduct for judges and justices in an endeavor to help repair the corrupt judicial system and regain public trust.
The code of conduct gives a mandate to High Court justices to impose penalties for any justices committing professional misconduct, such as delaying cases or corruption.
"This code of conduct which comprises 58 articles will complement the code of ethics of the IKAHI (Indonesian Judges Association)," said MA chief Bagir Manan during the closing ceremony of the appeal judges's week-long meeting here on Sunday.
He said any violations of the code or the oath of office would result in the High Court imposing penalties.
The punishment depends on the level of violations and may range from a six-month to a one-year suspension. In this period, justices who commit professional misconduct are not allowed to try any cases.
Bagir acknowledged that it was hard to improve the judges' credibility and integrity. But, he added that he had begun taking action against justices suspected of corruption, including the justices who handled the Manulife case.
"Do not see how many justices have been already punished; the most important thing is that we've begun imposing the law and applying the justice for all citizens equally," he added.
The judicial system has been under fire following a number of controversial corruption verdicts. Among of them were the verdicts of former officials and businessmen found guilty of committing massive corruption during the New Order era. Compounding problems, judges who do convict in the face of overwhelming evidence do not order the criminals be jailed immediately.
Former chief of the National Logistics Agency Beddu Amang, former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, central bank governor Sjahril Sabirin and House Speaker Akbar Tandjung are only several of a great number of officials, ex-officials and persons who have not been put behind bars after they were found guilty of corruption.
Sjahril, convicted for his involvement in the Bank Bali scam, was controversially acquitted on appeal.
The judiciary was widely condemned when the Central Jakarta Commercial Court declared PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia bankrupt on June 13 in a decision that has strained relations between Canada and Indonesia.
The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has launched an investigation into the possibility of bribery in the case. Justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra last week said he had not received a report from the honor council assigned to assess the case.
The corrupt judicial system was confirmed when a UN rapporteur investigated Indonesia's judicial practices in July.
Besides the success in outlining the code of conduct, the justices' meeting has set up a team assigned especially to assess the dualism of judicial management between the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
It is hoped that the administration and the supervision would be handled entirely by the Supreme Court from January, 2003.
"We hope the team will finish its task by the end of the year and the integrated management under the Supreme Court could be started early next year," Bagir added.
According to Bagir, this situation had been a serious matter because it affected the independency and integrity of the justices.
In connection with the effort to boost performance, the meeting recommended a budget increase in order to improve justices' integrity, morality, vision, professionalism and capability.