Indonesia may get special tribunal for doctors
Indonesia may get special tribunal for doctors
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia is likely to establish another special tribunal, this
time for doctors and health providers, if the medical practice
bill is passed into law as it stands.
The proposal, however, has drawn criticism from legal expert
Luhut MP Pangaribuan, who said that this would only encourage
other professionals to demand special tribunals.
"In principle, it is not wrong to set up a special medical
tribunal as long as it is subordinate to the public courts. But a
consequence could be that other professions will also demand
their own tribunals," Luhut told The Jakarta Post.
The country now has the public courts (district courts),
military tribunals, religious (Islamic) courts and administrative
courts.
On top of that, the country has two special courts, both under
the administrative jurisdiction of the Central Jakarta District
Court. The are the commercial court and the ad hoc human rights
tribunal.
Therefore, Luhut said, if doctors and other professionals
demanded special tribunals, it would further complicate the
country's judicial system.
Luhut, therefore, urged the House of Representatives (DPR) to
cancel the plan to deliberate the bill.
"The House must be careful in meeting such a demand. There is
no need to provide special treatment for certain professions as
all professions are the same before the law," Luhut said.
Ahmad Sanoesi Tambunan, a legislator with the House's public
welfare committee and also a member of the Indonesian Doctors
Association (IDI), argued that Indonesia needed such a court to
settle disputes fairly between physicians or health providers and
patients.
Luhut, however, disagreed and said that ensuring equitable
resolutions to disputes did not mean a separate court was needed.
The existing district courts should be able to properly handle
such disputes.
Highlights of the medical practice bill
Article 52(1): The medical practice tribunal is a special court
that constitutes part of the public courts of justice.
Section 2: The medical practice tribunal is a place of recourse
for members of the public to seek redress in disputes involving
medical practitioners/staff.
Article 53: The adjudicative power to hear medical malpractice
suits shall be vested in the:
a. Medical practice tribunal;
b. Medical practice appellate tribunal
Article 56: The medical practice tribunal and the appellate
tribunal shall be established by orders of the Supreme Court.
Article 60(1): The judges of the medical practice tribunal and
the appellate tribunal shall consist of legal and medical
experts.
Article 88: The medical practice tribunal and the appellate
tribunal are tasked with and obliged to examine, decide and
resolve disputes involving the medical profession.
Article 91(1): Persons and institutions that suffer losses due to
medical malpractice may bring actions in the medical practice
tribunal.