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)