Government seeking to unite lawyers into one association

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Soedjono Chanafiah Atmonegoro urged Minister of Justice Muladi yesterday to attempt to unite disparate groups of lawyers into a single unified association.

"It should be the justice minister's homework to facilitate the establishment of a single association for lawyers," Soedjono told the media after meeting with President Soeharto at his Jl. Cendana residence in Central Jakarta.

He said a unified association would facilitate supervision and communication with lawyers.

A single association for every profession is mandated by 1985 legislation on mass organizations. For example, the government recognizes only one association of journalists -- the Indonesian Journalists Association -- and one labor union, the Federation of All-Indonesia Workers Union.

Uniting lawyers has proven to be more difficult. Some analysts have attributed the problems to divergence of interests of many people in the government.

The first attempt at uniting the various lawyers organizations was in 1985 with the establishment of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), which came about at the initiative of the then chief justice and minister of justice.

It was ultimately beset by internal disputes and, five years later, 135 of its 850 members resigned to form a rival organization, the Indonesian Advocates' Association (AAI), with the blessing of the minister of justice of the time.

Previously, in 1987 a group of young lawyers, disgruntled at being denied membership in Ikadin, established the Association of Indonesian Lawyers (IPHI).

In 1991, with the support of the then ministers of justice and home affairs, AAI and five other lawyers' organizations -- IPHI, LBPH Kosgoro, BPKH MKGR, LKBH Trisula and LPPH -- joined forces to establish the Association of Indonesian Lawyers Organizations (Poperi). (imn/prb)