Govt plans to improve judges's knowledge of legal issues

Govt plans to improve judges's knowledge of legal issues

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Often criticized for issuing verdicts that do not coincide with
the public's sense of justice, the Supreme Court is now gearing
up to train judges in courts across the country in a
bid to improve.

Marianna Sutadi Nasution, Supreme Court deputy chief for case
management, said on Monday that a series of training sessions had
been arranged to improve the judges' knowledge of the law.

"We will hold regular meetings with judges across the country.
Some of them will also be trained abroad," she told The Jakarta
Post in her office.

The Supreme Court is in charge of supervising the work of all
judges, many of whom have been criticized for handing down
controversial rulings.

The Jakarta Commercial Court, for example, declared two
international joint venture firms -- Prudential Life Insurance
and Manulife Insurance -- bankrupt despite their healthy
financial condition.

The verdicts, which were widely criticized by foreign
investors and governments -- particularly the British and
Canadian governments -- were later overturned by the Supreme
Court.

Mariana said judges across the country would get trained on
legal procedures, commercial law, civilian law and criminal law
as well as cyber law, which is considered a new domain.

The training is being partially funded by the Partnership for
Governance Reform, an international non-governmental organization
that has been assisting the government.

"We are determined to issue quality verdicts," Marianna said.

She also said that the Supreme Court had committed to
examining verdicts sooner in a bid to review whether the courts
had implemented the law correctly or not.

"I think it's quite an achievement. Previously, we could only
examine a case after the final and binding verdict, which could
take five to six years from the time of the verdict at the
district court level," said Marianna, who assumed her post three
months ago.

Assisted by the Partnership, the court is currently
considering whether to set up a system that takes into account
the quality of verdicts, instead of simply seniority, in
appointing judges to higher positions, she said.

Marianna is one of two newly installed deputy chief justices,
who have been tasked with reversing the Court's badly tarnished
image and speeding up its sluggish internal reform process.

Previously the court's director of supervision, she asserted
that she would not tolerate judges who violated regulations.

"If the mistakes are not overly serious, I prefer to reprimand
the judges or put them in positions that do not allow them to
hear cases. But, I will not hesitate to take firm action if it is
a serious mistake," she said without going into detail.

Referring to a recent report by a coalition of legal
watchdogs, which quoted media reports in 2000, Marianna denied
that she accepted bribes from anyone during her career of 40
years.

"I have more than sufficient (wealth). Everybody knows that.
I have never made money from cases," said Marianna, whose husband
is a senior diplomat.

The report stated that Marianna failed to list a plush house
allegedly owned by Marianna's son in Tangerang, Banten on her
wealth report submitted to the now defunct Civil Servants Wealth
Report Audit Commission (KPKPN) in 2000.

It was alleged that her failure to list the house was linked
to a case involving a giant Jakarta developer that was handled by
Marianna, who eventually ruled in favor of the property company.

Marianna went on to explain that she only had two daughters
and that her family had nothing to do with the house.

The audit commission also stated in February that the
allegations against Marianna, which were filed by the party that
lost the case, were unsubstantiated.