Judges told to use Press Law
Judges told to use Press Law
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Chief Justice Bagir Manan told senior judges on Tuesday to
consider using the Press Law in settling all disputes involving
the press instead of the Criminal Code.
In his remarks marking the installation of 14 Supreme Court
justices and 14 high court presidents across the country, Bagir
said that judges must be careful in handling cases involving the
press as it may hamper freedom of the press.
"The Press Law and the Criminal Code do not exist in the same
legal domain. Judges must be careful in cases involving the
media," he said.
His statement came prior to the issuance of verdicts against
Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti and another two journalists
on Thursday.
Bambang and the two other journalists have been brought to
court and charged under the Criminal Code for publishing an
article in the Tempo weekly that suggested that businessman Tommy
Winata was behind the fire that razed shops at the Tanah Abang
textile market in 2003.
Tommy, refusing to exercise his right to explain his side of
the story as stipulated under the Press Law, decided to report
Bambang and the two journalists to the police, arguing that the
weekly magazine had defamed him. He also sued Tempo for a number
of other cases.
Instead of charging Tempo's chief editor and the two
journalists under the Press Law, the police charged Bambang and
the two journalists under the Criminal Code.
According to Bagir, wrong legal measures against the press
would be injurious to press freedom which would eventually kill
the country's fledging democracy.
"A free press is not only an instrument of democracy, it also
guards the democracy. Judges badly need the existence of
democracy because only democracy recognizes and guarantees
freedom of the judiciary," he asserted.
Bagir explained that journalists were not subject to criminal
charges, including defamation.
"They only make reports. The decision to run the stories lies
in the hands of the editors," he said.
Bagir reiterated that judges must remain vigilant in handling
disputes involving press reports.
Bagir said that the Supreme Court was considering issuing a
circular that would bind courts in the country, during a meeting
later this year.
He lashed out at policy makers for issuing the Press Law,
which supposedly guarantees press freedom comprehensively,
without providing further ancillary regulations to make it
applicable in terms of the legal settlement of press disputes.
"There must be one state policy to guarantee press freedom.
You can't just say you guarantee press freedom but do not provide
the ancillary regulations to implement it," Bagir said.
According to Bagir, the Press Law is not the lex specialis of
the Criminal Code in terms of the settlement of disputes
involving the press. He argued that both laws are not in the same
legal domain.
He explained that the lex specialis principle is applied if
there are two laws. The first law, the lex specialis, deals with
the issue in detail (in term of sanctions and the like), which
are only stated in general by the second law, the lex generalis.
In his speech, Bagir called on the public not to hold rallies
to press the judges to rule in favor of their interests.
"The court is the last point in the prosecution process. The
flaw in the beginning of the process will affect the court
ruling.
"It is not fair to blame the court alone. Judges must be free
and independent in handling cases they obtain from prosecutors,"
he said.