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.