Fair and just trials still far away: Experts
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
While the revisions of the laws on judicial powers and the Supreme Court generally prevent government intervention, fair and just trials are still a long way off, experts say.
Rizqi S. Assegaff from the Institute for Research and Advocacy for Independent Courts (LeIP) and Harkristuti Harkrisnowo of the University of Indonesia said on Friday that a lack of supervisory regulations and overlapping of laws could still adversely influence court trials.
"The revisions were made in a hurry and lacked the people's participation in the deliberations. We found many weaknesses that could end up becoming negative issues for the Supreme Court and the judiciary system," Rizqi said.
He was asked to comment on the House of Representatives (DPR) decision on Thursday to endorse the revisions.
Rizqi revealed that the revised laws gave too much power to the Supreme Court justices, as the laws could be used to pressure judges during certain trials, without mentioning an independent commission which could monitor chief justices.
He suggested that the laws should have explicitly stated that the Supreme Court could not dismiss or remove a judge without first getting confirmation from a judicial commission.
"I have heard that certain chief justices have planned to transfer certain judges to remote areas after the revision of the laws," Rizqi said.
He said the laws also threatened the independence of trials and stipulated that the Supreme Court would be in charge of supervising lawyers, although the law on advocacy, which was approved earlier this year, states that a legal counselor must be independent.
He also said that the Supreme Court could claim that their law was legally stronger since it was the most recent, although both are considered special laws (lex specialis).
The House endorsed on Thursday the revisions on Laws No. 14/1070 on Judicial Power and No. 14/1985 on the Supreme Court, taking away the power of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to intervene in the country's court system.
Under the old laws, the ministry was in charge of promotions, placement, salaries and administrative affairs of the judges, while the Supreme Court handled only appeals.
During the authoritarian president Soeharto's regime, judges often favored defendants, mostly in political cases and a rejection of government intervention, could lead to dismissal or transfer to an outer island court.
With the revision of the laws, all administrative affairs and assets of the court are now in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Harkristuti supported Rizqi's opinion that the laws did not clearly mention supervisory bodies -- external or internal -- that could check the power of the court.
"I also do not see any political will from the current government to establish an independent and just system. It will still take time to develop it," she said.
She said that some requirements for an independent judicial system, such as financial support from the government and preparation of judges, was still missing.
However, Harkristuti welcomed the revisions of the laws as a good start which should be followed by other laws, including the establishment of a judicial commission.
"I know that the Supreme Court has prepared a blueprint to improve the performance of the judiciary in the future. It's not bad," she said.