Harsh action against errant judges sought
JAKARTA (JP): Legal experts have called on the government to take strict measures against judges whose verdicts spark controversy, instead of just giving them administrative sanctions.
National Law Commission member Frans Hendra Winarta and Todung Mulya Lubis from the Judicial Watch Indonesia both said that the minister of justice and human rights should suspend errant judges until their cases were settled thoroughly. They also asserted that the minister should publicize such cases.
"We have to be fierce when handling corruption cases," he said on Friday, referring to judges suspected of taking bribes.
Earlier this week, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Baharuddin Lopa announced that he had given administrative sanctions to 12 judges who had abused their authority.
Five of the judges were transferred to other posts and were stripped of their authority to hand down verdicts.
Frans told The Jakarta Post by telephone that it was about time the government strictly punished errant judges in an effort to eradicate rampant corruption.
He said that a consensus to combat corruption among all members in the administration of justice was the first thing to do to foster an intolerance of corruption.
Without such an effort, he said, corruption cannot really be eliminated.
Frans said he was still optimistic that the government could eradicate corruption, as long as it assigned clean judges to handle corruption cases.
Meanwhile, Todung said that minister Lopa should consult the Supreme Court immediately to tighten supervision of judges in all courts in the country.
Todung, who is a lawyer, viewed that there were many lawyers who played roles in collusion between judges and defendants, making it more difficult to eradicate corruption.
Therefore, he suggested that the minister cooperate with the Supreme Court to form an ad hoc team to probe controversial court verdicts.
Contacted separately, Benyamin Mangkoedilaga, a Supreme Court justice, indicated that not just judges, but also police officers and prosecutors were often involved in bribery while handling a case. The government should take measures against them as well, he said.
He said he supported any effort to eliminate corruption involving judges, as long as the move did not violate any rules.
He criticized Lopa, who passed administrative sanctions on the 12 judges before consulting the Judges Honor Board.
"It was a wrong move," said Benyamin, who was nominated by President Abdurrahman Wahid as a candidate for chief justice.
In contrast to Benyamin, Frans said the Judges Honor Board had nothing to do with the matter because corruption in the courts was a crime.
He said the board was only authorized to handle ethical violations by judges.
In Bandung, a judge said in the 13th congress of the Association of Indonesian Judges (Ikahi) that the government should raise the salary of a district court judge to Rp 15 million per month, a high court judge to Rp 25 million per month and a Supreme Court judge to Rp 40 million. The congress agreed that the salaries should be increased, but did not recommend a figure. Judges are currently paid between Rp 3 million and Rp 12 million. (04/25)