Court drafts penalty for professional misconduct

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.