Jimly pushes for enforcement of code of ethics to become judicial system

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Chairman of the Election Organisers’ Honour Council (DKPP) for the 2012–2017 period and constitutional law academic Jimly Asshiddiqie is pushing for the enforcement of codes of ethics in Indonesia to be developed into an open, independent, and accountable judicial system.

Jimly explained that the state’s recognition of ethics courts is enshrined in Law No. 17 of 2014 on the MPR, DPR, DPD, and DPRD (MD3 Law), which among other things regulates the Honorary Council of the House (MKD), as well as the existence of the Election Organisers’ Honour Council that handles violations of the code of ethics by election organisers.

“In the MD3 Law, the Honour Body is changed to the Honorary Court. This means that under Indonesian law, the enforcement of codes of ethics is already recognised as part of the judicial system,” said Jimly during a discussion and the launch of the book Ethics That Becomes Institutional: 70 Years of Prof Jimly Asshiddiqie Legacy of Ideas and Strengthening DKPP, held at the DKPP office in Jakarta on Friday.

According to him, strengthening ethics enforcement is important because in the era of openness, aspects of public officials’ ethics can no longer be viewed as private matters.

“This is not just a matter of personal ethics, but related to public office. In the era of information openness, public office belongs to the public,” he stated.

Jimly acknowledged that efforts to build such a system are not easy because ethics issues often receive little attention in political practice.

In addition, Jimly encourages the enforcement of codes of ethics to adopt modern judicial principles, such as openness, adversarial nature, independence, and accountability.

He hopes that strengthening the ethics judicial system can enhance the integrity of state institutions, maintain ethical standards in democratic life, and ensure the accountability of public officials.