Fund for needy defendants frozen due to money woes

JAKARTA (JP): The monetary turmoil hitting the country has also found its way into the legal system as the allocation of Rp 2.5 billion in legal aid funds to needy defendants will be temporarily frozen.

The money was originally scheduled to be provided by the 1997/1998 budget to give financial assistance to poor people in need of lawyers in court.

"This fund has been delayed for an uncertain amount of time," Antara quoted State Administration Judicature Director General Sulistyowati Soegondo as saying.

Soegondo said the fund was originally going to be distributed to district courts across the country.

Any defendant facing more than five years in jail is required to be accompanied by a lawyer, and if the defendant cannot afford one, one is provided by the court.

The provision of legal defense is paid by the legal aid fund.

The lawyer is paid Rp 250,000 (US$84.74) for each case. Last year, lawyers provided by the court were only paid Rp 200,000.

Soegondo noted that only 29.9 percent of last year's budget was claimed.

"The lawyers might have had difficulty in proving that they handled cases," Soegondo remarked.

The chairman of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, Bambang Widjojanto, said many lawyers were reluctant to apply for compensation through the fund because of complicated procedures.

According to Bambang, most defendants or their families know little about the fund. "Only a few lawyers have access to the fund at district courts," he told The Jakarta Post.

He complained that the fund was not transparently managed, and the small amount allocated to the fund only worsened the situation.

"All defendants must be informed that they are entitled to free legal service when they are facing at least five years in jail," he said.

"The fund is very helpful when it is properly used because about 70 percent of defendants are poor," Bambang added. (prb)