Expert: Cases at the Prosecutor's Office Unaffected by Acting Jampidsus Appointment
The status of the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus), which is still held by an acting official, is considered unlikely to hinder the handling of major cases at the Attorney General’s Office. Academic and legal expert Abdul Fickar Hadjar assessed that the main function of the Jampidsus is more focused on policy formulation, while the investigation and prosecution processes are still carried out by prosecutors at the operational level. The statement was made by Fickar in response to calls from various parties for the government to immediately appoint a definitive Jampidsus. According to him, during the transition period, the execution of duties within the special crimes division can still proceed as it should.
“Actually, there is no problem with an acting official because the position of Jampidsus is not that of an operational prosecutor in court or field intelligence work,” said Fickar.
He explained that the position of Junior Attorney General, including Jampidsus, essentially functions as a policy formulator. This task includes the formulation of administrative and operational policies that serve as guidelines for the execution of investigations and prosecutions.
Meanwhile, the handling of cases in the field is carried out by the executing prosecutors, both at the Attorney General’s Office and at the High Prosecutors’ Offices and District Prosecutors’ Offices in various regions.
“The Junior Attorneys General are only policy makers, while operations are fully carried out by the High Prosecutors’ Offices and District Prosecutors’ Offices in each region. The main task of the Junior Attorney General is policy formulation, both administrative and prosecutorial and investigative services at the operational level,” he said.
With this division of functions, Fickar assessed that the absence of a definitive official will not halt the wheels of law enforcement. He stated that the working mechanism within the prosecution environment can still function even though the Jampidsus position is still filled by an acting official.
“So before there is a definitive one, there is no problem with an acting official,” he said.
Fickar also dismissed the notion that the acting status would affect the handling of large-scale corruption cases that are currently of public concern. According to him, the investigation and prosecution processes remain in the hands of the team of prosecutors handling the case directly.
“These big cases are handled by the executing investigation and prosecution prosecutors, both at the Attorney General’s Office, High Prosecutors’ Offices, and District Prosecutors’ Offices. So the function of the Junior Attorney General is the formulation of operational policy, therefore it is not a problem for it to be temporarily filled by an acting official,” concluded Fickar.
It was previously known that Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi stated that his office had not yet received a proposal for the appointment of a new Jampidsus from Attorney General ST Burhanuddin. He explained that the appointment of the Jampidsus official is the authority of President Prabowo Subianto, established through a Presidential Decree. However, the issuance of the Presidential Decree must be based on an official proposal submitted by the Attorney General.
“The mechanism is that the position is appointed and established by the President through a Presidential Decree based on a proposal from the Attorney General, which to this day we have not received,” Prasetyo told reporters on Monday (13/7).
Meanwhile, the Prosecutorial Commission is urging for the immediate selection of a figure to definitively fill the Jampidsus position.