Fewer cases clogging judicial system: Soerjono
Fewer cases clogging judicial system: Soerjono
JAKARTA (JP): Chief Justice Soerjono said yesterday that the backlog of appeals on his desk has significantly been reduced in size over the past couple of years.
"The Supreme Court has settled more than 5,000 appeals over the past two years," Soerjono said here after meeting with senior leaders of the House of Representatives (DPR).
Senior DPR leaders and Supreme Court officials held a closed meeting, which was later criticized by the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) legislator who was not included.
Soerjono, who replaced Purwoto Suhadi Gandasubrata in November last year, said that nearly 2,000 cases reach the Supreme Court each year and that in general, the majority are now settled.
Soerjono has proposed solutions and the last two years have seen a significant reduction in the number of cases that routinely pile up, a phenomenon that has plagued the Supreme Court for years.
"One solution, for example, is to tighten the criteria for appeals that allow lower court verdicts to reach the Supreme Court," he said.
Restricting appeal cases to those which exceed a certain amount of money is another way, he said.
The DPR delegation led by Soetedjo, a deputy House Speaker from the Armed Forces faction, consisted of Suhardi, the head of the DPR's Commission III and three of his deputies.
Soerjono was joined by Vice Chief Justice M. Djaelani and several Deputy Chief Justices.
Protest
On a separate occasion, a PDI legislator said that the closed- door meeting was not in line with the spirit of togetherness and in conflict with the government's promise to restore the justice system's image.
The "consultation meeting" between House members and Supreme Court officials was the first since 1993 and under Purwoto's leadership. Purwoto, apparently, was reluctant to hold hearings after being offended by a critical comment by PDI legislator V.B. Da Costa.
"I regret the DPR leaders' decision to hold such a closed meeting," Nana Mulyana Sukanta, a legislator from the PDI faction, told The Jakarta Post.
"The DPR's autonomy is questionable if it can be influenced by other institutions to determine its own policy," he added.
He urged the DPR leaders to reconsider the policy, saying that the attendance of all Commission III members would have been more valuable.
Nana also regretted the omission of his group's representatives. He claimed that Da Costa, who was to represent the faction in lieu of Djupri, was rejected for unclear reasons.
Suhardi denied the accusation that the commission prevented Da Costa from attending the meeting.
"We informed the PDI of the meeting but there was no reply," he said, adding that the faction did not mention Da Costa as a replacement for Djupri. (imn)