Judicial Commission strengthens public involvement and rigorous verification in Supreme Court judge selection

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Judicial Commission (KY) is strengthening public involvement and layered verification in the selection process for Supreme Court judge and ad hoc judge candidates as an effort to ensure that the integrity, track records, and quality of candidates are comprehensively screened.

“First and foremost, we hope for input from the public and public information, because that is where the important assessment lies; the integrity aspect is extremely important,” said KY member and Head of the Judge Recruitment Division Andi Muhammad Asrun in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He explained that public input is a crucial component in the assessment, particularly for testing the integrity aspect, which is not always detectable through administrative documents.

He stated that public information, including track records, backgrounds, and behaviour of candidates, will be verified through the KY’s internal investigation mechanism to maintain objectivity and accuracy.

“Even if there is an identity of the information provider, the Judicial Commission will protect it; we will not possibly confront one with the other; we will dig and this will all be investigated by the investigation team from the Judicial Commission,” he said.

“What is clear is that every piece of information, we will certainly protect its source. That is already guaranteed,” he added.

In addition to relying on public reports, KY conducts additional verification through administrative and investigative tracing, including assessing the consistency of track records and the development of candidates’ profiles.

Asrun acknowledged the KY’s limitations in reaching all backgrounds of candidates, so public involvement becomes an important factor in strengthening the selection process.

“The Judicial Commission cannot reach all Supreme Court judge candidates, anti-corruption ad hoc judge candidates, and human rights judge candidates. We very much hope for input from the public,” he said.

“All Supreme Court judge candidates are selected based on quality and integrity,” he added.

The results of the KY’s selection will subsequently be submitted to the House of Representatives to undergo fit-and-proper tests.

Asrun assessed that the DPR will also conduct further probing before making a decision.

“The DPR will certainly accept or reject, but before that, they will definitely dig deeper first,” he said.