Judges receive raises

Judges receive raises

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a decree on
Wednesday increasing the salaries of judges.

The head of the Indonesian Judges Association (Ikahi), Toton
Suprapto, said the basic salary of first-grade judges would
increase from Rp 750,000 (US$68) a month to Rp 1.75 million. The
basic salary of the highest grade judges would go from Rp
2,257,900 a month to Rp 3,407,000, Antara reported.

But a statement from the State Secretariat said the salary of
first-grade judges would be increased to Rp 1.35 million a month.

Following a meeting with the President at the Bina Graha
presidential office, Toton said the decree also raised the status
of judges from civil servants to that of government officials.

But Toton said the decree did not stipulate an increase in the
allowances for judges.

He said the highest allowance for judges was Rp 1 million a
month. He compared this to state prosecutors, who could receive
up to Rp 2.5 million a month.

"So we also asked the President to increase the allowance for
judges, at least to the same level as that of prosecutors. The
answer was that the budget is limited," Toton was quoted by
Antara as saying.

Ikahi proposed an increase in the salaries of judges during
its 13th national congress in Bandung last March. Also during the
congress, Toton was elected as the new head of the association.

Toton also said the President would install Bagir Manan as the
new chief justice of the Supreme Court next Friday.

Separately, Edwin Situmorang of the Joint Anti-Corruption Team
said increasing the salaries of judges was not sufficient to
improve the professionalism of judges.

"Improving their welfare and increasing their salaries is not
enough ... what does Rp 1 million mean to judges nowadays. Judges
need to have their integrity improved, not their welfare. It is
about integrity, not welfare," Edwin told The Jakarta Post.
(hdn/ylt)