House criticized over justice selection

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

Activists questioned on Tuesday the integrity and capability of the 14 appointed Supreme Court justices, and criticized the House for selecting them hastily in a process that lacked transparency.

Activists Bambang Widjojanto and Asep Rahmat Fajar suggested that President Megawati Soekarnoputri postpone the approval of the justices, pending the establishment of the planned judicial commission.

"The selection process of the justices is questionable. It was conducted in such a short period of time, and at a time when the people are preoccupied with the presidential election," Bambang said on Tuesday.

Consequently, he said, the public failed to provide sufficient information about the 44 candidates who were screened.

"We don't know whether (the abrupt) selection process was by design or not," he said.

The House of Representatives began the screening on June 8 and announced the result on Monday, June 21.

However, under Law No. 4/2004 on the Supreme Court, the House has no authority to select Supreme Court justices, which is the duty of the Judicial Commission, which has yet to be set up.

Asep said the House's screening process lacked credibility, as it was not transparent and did not consistently inform the public on proceedings.

"The screening is supposed to examine the integrity of the candidates, but obviously, they failed in this," he said.

Most of the selected candidates are career judges in their 50s and 60s, about which Asep commented: "You know the reputation of our judges, who are picked through a non-transparent process."

"Let the judicial commission review the candidates once more to get the best, legitimate justices," Asep said.

Bambang also suggested that President Megawati form a team consisting of reputable legal experts to review the candidates.

"I think the President is very busy with the campaign, so it is better to leave the matter to a team of noted experts," he said.

The House endorsed 14 Supreme Court justice candidates during a plenary session on Monday. It said the recruitment was necessary to improve the performance of the Supreme Court, which is facing a backlog of over 19,000 cases.

The activists rejected the argument, saying recruiting new justices would be unnecessary if the Court improved its case management.

"They must learn how to manage cases efficiently. If not, they will keep facing the same problem," Bambang said.