Lawyers call for stronger bar association

JAKARTA (JP): Prominent legal experts are calling for a unified bar association to complement the government's efforts to improve law enforcement.

Prof. Loebby Loqman of the University of Indonesia's Law School, and Todung Mulya Lubis, a corporate lawyer and noted human rights campaigner, said in a two-day seminar on legal development which concluded Wednesday that bar associations and professional defense lawyers are the key to good law enforcement.

"The bar association, lawyers and legal consultants constitute a major component of law enforcement. They are needed to improve people's awareness of not only their rights but also of their obligations," he said on Wednesday.

The Indonesian Bar Association, currently chaired by veteran lawyer Haryono Tjitrosoebono, has for some time been criticized as sluggish and less-than-professional.

Lubis concurred, pointing out that enforcing the laws is not the task of police, judges and prosecutors alone. A stronger bar association and more professional lawyers are also needed in the campaign, he said.

"If the bar association's role can't be improved and unified, and if we had no professional lawyers and legal consultants, we'll stay shackled to outdated laws established during the Dutch colonial time," he said. He did not elaborate.

The two-day seminar was organized by the National Police and aimed at obtaining the law experts' input on how legal development in the next seventh Five-Year Development Plan period should be pursued.

Lubis suggested that one of the first tasks that legal circles should undertake is reviewing outdated laws, creating professional law enforcers, and providing legal facilities to support law enforcement.

Lubis also said that a major obstruction to enforcing the laws lies with the law enforcers, not only the laws.

"The law enforcers should take some actions, for instance improving their skills, to anticipate the onslaught of sophisticated crimes," he said.

Loqman said the police should not only have a broad knowledge and be conversant with legal matters, as well as professional in their job.

"In our judicial system, the police's knowledge of laws is a must. They have to be skilled in classifying cases and collecting data to support their investigations," he said.

In addition, law enforcers should listen to their conscience and maintain their professional ethics, he said. (rms)