Judges admit the country's judiciary is pathetic

Judges admit the country's judiciary is pathetic

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The result of the UN fact-finding mission on how pathetic the
country's administration of justice and the judiciary have become
has not come as a surprise to the judges and the country's legal
circles, who describe corruption as rampant in courtrooms.

Chairman of the Indonesian Judges Association (IKAHI) Toton
Suprapto implied that what the UN special rapporteur suggested on
Monday as a way of eradicating corruption among law enforcers had
already been adopted by the association.

"The UN rapporteur asked whether IKAHI would give support if
the Chief Justice ordered a judge who was suspected of graft to
step down three months after the case became public. We have no
problem with that because that is IKAHI's stance," he said.

Toton, who is a serving justice, said IKAHI would pass the
UN's recommendation to Chief Justice Bagir Manan, who is still on
an official visit to Egypt.

Malaysian lawyer Dato Param Cumaraswamy, who is the UN special
rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, met IKAHI
officials at the Supreme Court to share opinions and ideas on how
other countries combat corruption in the judiciary.

Although the mission would only be finalized on Tuesday, he
concluded that the state of the Indonesian judiciary was worse
than expected and that it faced "serious problems". Cumaraswamy
will deliver recommendations to the government on Wednesday.

He will report the results to the UN Commission on Human
Rights at its next meeting.

Legal observer Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan said that there were
loopholes in the country's legal system, which remained open
because of the potential benefit to the personal interests of
law enforcers.

"And that's how badly our judiciary has deteriorated. The law
enforcement agents themselves, including the judges, the
prosecutors, the lawyers and the police take the benefit from
legal uncertainties to get the name and the fame," he told The
Jakarta Post.

He cited the decision to detain or extend the detention period
of criminal suspects as subjective judgments of the investigators
or judges.

That situation, he said, provided an opportunity of
"bargaining with the suspects" for their freedom.

"And such practices are common in courtrooms. Bribery has now
become common practice in our judiciary. The judiciary can be
bought like a commodity".

As a quick and feasible step to eradicate judicial corruption,
Pangaribuan suggested the government impose criminal sanctions on
any judges and anyone who "bargained" or even held a meeting with
suspects.