Lawyers' association seeks law for members' protection
Lawyers' association seeks law for members' protection
JAKARTA (JP): An organization of lawyers urged the government
and the House of Representatives to make a law regulating all
matters dealing with attorneys.
Racosbi Matram, chairman of the association of lawyers,
Poperi, described yesterday how lawyers have been considered less
worthy than other law enforcers, like police, prosecutors and
judges.
"Unless we have that law, we'll always be treated unequally,"
he was quoted by Antara as saying.
"We urge the government and the House to work on the bill
soon," Abd. Salam Prawiranegara, Racosbi's colleague, said.
Racosbi pointed out that there are laws covering the police,
prosecutors and judges, but none dealing with attorneys. The
draft bill on attorneys the government has prepared has not been
submitted to the House.
Salam stressed that the lack of legal protection has
contributed to the recent bashing of attorneys by various
parties.
Some critics have accused attorneys of commercializing their
profession, while others say corruption is running rampant in the
legal profession.
Former Senior Judge Asikin Kusumah Atmadja recently said that
power was so systematically abused that the justice system was
like a business controlled by a "mafia" of court officials.
He also alleged that over 50 percent of Indonesian judges are
corrupt.
A prominent legal advocate for many foreign firms, T. Mulya
Lubis, supported the accusation, saying that there has been
collusion among lawyers, judges, legal brokers and prosecutors.
Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman promptly shielded lawyers
from the accusations hurled at them. He admitted there are many
abuses of legal authority at the court level but scolded critics
who make mafia comparisons.
He categorically denied that there was a mafia in the
judiciary system, although "some law enforcers are erratic."
Salam pointed out that attorneys have also been accused of
encouraging their clients to take various legal actions, such as
the appeal or review of cases, just for the sake of extending
their service time and, therefore, increasing their fees.
Racosbi conceded that there are attorneys who are only out for
money, but "there are also other law enforcers with similar
habits," he then added, "Don't forget, we do serve the poor for
free."
Racosbi also deflected accusations that the backlog of cases
for the Supreme Court stems from lawyers playing for time by
continuously seeking various legal actions, even with the
knowledge that they cannot win.
"Appeals to the Supreme Court are sometimes needed because not
all judges are fair," he said. "They aren't gods who never make
mistakes."
The two lawyers also called for the establishment of a single
body for attorneys. Poperi was established four years ago and is
made up of six of the ten existing organizations for lawyers.
"We want a more unified association for lawyers," Racosbi
said. (swe)