Government proposes amendment of judiciary law

JAKARTA (JP): The government proposed amendments to the law on the judiciary on Monday with the aim to empower the judicial branch to act independently of the executive.

Although only two articles of Judicial Power Law No. 14/1970 were proposed for revision by the House of Representatives, the government's representative, Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision and Administrative Reform Hartarto Sastrosoenarto, said they would end three decades of government control of the judicial system.

If the amendments are adopted, the Supreme Court will take over the Ministry of Justice's authority concerning organizational, financial and administrative affairs of courts nationwide. The Supreme Court also would oversee civil, religious, military and administrative courts.

Due to the wide-ranging consequences of the measures, they will be implemented in stages. A team set up to prepare amendments to the law recommended that the transfers of duty be completed five years after the new government takes office.

The Supreme Court also will be entrusted to litigate all crimes involving both civilians and military personnel in open trials. Currently, the court lacks the authority even to name judges for such crimes. The authority is held by the minister of defense and security affairs, with approval from the justice minister.

"Violations of judicial law include the presence of vertical and horizontal intervention in court decisions," he said.

"... Executive power has made the judiciary barren for more than three decades. The judiciary, as one of the major vanguards of the rule of law, has been unable to prevent all the unconstitutional acts and serve as the last bastion in enforcing law, justice and democracy."

Hartarto said in many developed countries, an independent judiciary and legal system could work without needing a strict separation of the executive from its judicial branch.

"In the wake of the reform era, a clear-cut separation has been deemed the only solution and expectation to enforce the rule of law in Indonesia."

Hartarto said the amendments were mandated by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) during its Special Session in November last year.

A team composed of members of the Supreme Court, Attorney General's Office, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Defense and Security and legal experts was formed to follow up the MPR decree.

Apart from the two proposed amendments, the team has suggested an introduction of an honor council, with tasks to include supervising judges, providing recommendations for recruitment, promotion and rotation of judges, and drawing up a code of conduct for judges.

The team also recommended that the Supreme Court be equipped with judicial review, in which the court would be allowed to examine outdated laws and regulations.

The MPR failed to agree on the Supreme Court's authority in judicial review in its last three plenary sessions, with particularly strong opposition from the ruling Golkar Party. (05/amd)