Court retains `the best of the worst' in big reshuffle

Court retains `the best of the worst' in big reshuffle

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Supreme Court shifted 64 mid- and low-level division heads
from their posts on Thursday, the biggest reshuffling to occur in
the country's judicial history, in an effort to boost its poor
performance and repair the corrupt judiciary.

As many as nine officials of the Echelon 3 were dismissed from
their positions as division heads for brokering appeal cases
submitted to the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Secretary-General Gunanto Sunaryo told reporters
that the reorganization was part of the court's reform agenda to
repair its badly tarnished image.

"If you want to kill a snake, you have to strike at its head,"
he said, referring to senior administrative officials and senior
legal clerks in the mid- and low-level division units.

Earlier this month, the court removed 12 of its upper-level
division heads and replaced them with 12 new legal clerks.

The Supreme Court currently employs more than 1,000 officers.

Gunanto, who admitted that some of the court's senior
officials "are not clean", claimed to be satisfied with the
Court's move to revamp itself.

"They are the best of the worst," he commented, when asked why
the court kept some of the officials.

Gunanto said that the reform agenda, which was planned last
year, had won the full support of the top Supreme Court
officials. The decisions of the shuffle, he said, were based on
reports from the division heads' supervisors, judges, lawyers and
ordinary citizens.

He added that he had frequently received letters of complaint
regarding several officials who had boasted about themselves and
their skills.

Gunanto, who leads the Court secretary-general division that
handles court administrative matters and personnel, warned all
officials against abusing their power, since the court was the
final and highest institution the people came to in search of
justice.

"It's we who judge your performance, not you... All this time,
you have contributed to the Supreme Court's negative image. If I
hear similar things (in future), I will not hesitate to dismiss
you," Gunanto warned in his speech during the ceremony marking
the reorganization.

He promised he would regularly monitor and evaluate the newly
appointed officials.

"If your performance declines, or if you don't do your jobs
correctly, or if I hear people say that you use your positions to
make money, I won't hesitate to dismiss you," he added.

Legal observers have said that corruption at court not only
involved the judges, but also administrative officers in the
middle and lower tiers, who reportedly have the power to either
accelerate or to delay a hearing.

Last year, a mid-level official at the Supreme Court was
reported to the police for allegedly forging a justice's
signature on a verdict.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) has included court
administrators as part of the widespread systemic court mafia in
the country.

"No matter how small the power of a court clerk, it has the
potential of becoming a commodity of corruption," the ICW said in
its latest report.

"Court mafia involves all actors ... from the police, court
administrators, lawyers and prosecutors, to judges and prison
guards," it said.

At the Supreme Court, corruption occurs particularly in those
divisions that handle the flow of appeals, such as the Appeal
Registration Division. Court administrators are also believed to
play a role as brokers in appeal cases.