Legislators must choose judge with integrity, say experts
Legislators must choose judge with integrity, say experts
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Supreme Court justice candidates must not only have the ability
to resolve legal cases efficiently, but must also be equipped
with the capacity to bring about sweeping reforms in the
country's highest judiciary body, legal analyst Rizqi S. Assegaff
says.
To meet that end, Rizqi says, the House of Representatives
(DPR) must be much more serious in carrying out its candidate
selection for the highest court in the land.
"Selected justices should have the capacity and integrity to
reform the Supreme Court," said Rizqi from the Institute for
Research and Advocacy for Independent Courts (LeIP).
He was commenting in regard to the scheduled interviews by
House Commission II for 63 candidates to be Supreme Court
justices from Feb. 17 to Feb. 24.
Although there are about 16,000 unsolved cases at the Supreme
Court, the ability of candidates to handle cases quickly should
not be the only criteria for appointment, he said.
According to Rizqi, there were at least three criteria that
should be used by legislators to select the candidates. A Supreme
Court justice, he said, must possess personal integrity, quality
and vision.
Legislator Patrialis Akbar announced on Tuesday that 63
candidates had met the administrative requirements and that the
public was invited to submit their opinions on the candidates to
legislators.
"We invite the people to give input concerning the backgrounds
of the candidates," Patrialis said.
Of the 63 candidates, 31 of them are career judges and the
remainder are non-career justices.
There was strong criticism against the House for its failure
to carry out a fair and transparent selection process in the
selection of members of the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) last year.
After a series of evaluations of the candidates, legislators
voted for their preferred candidates. This had raised speculation
that legislators' preference was based on "personal likes and
dislikes".
The lack of a fair selection process had led to the
disqualification of Todung Mulya Lubis and Hendardi, both of whom
are highly respected human rights champions, but apparently not
the right fit for Indonesia's human rights body.
Rizqi Assegaff said he hoped the legislators would not have
another unfair selection process.
He suggested that the legislators collect as much background
information concerning the candidates' track records so that the
lawmakers could determine each candidates' integrity or lack
thereof.
Rizqi added that the legislators should also verify the
experience of each candidate.
Regarding the method of selection, Rizqi suggested that the
legislators should be transparent with regard to why a certain
preference was given to anyone.
"Which legislators opt for whom should be known by the public
so that the legislators have a sense of responsibility for their
selection," he said.
Deputy chairman of Commission II, Hamdan Zoelva, meanwhile
called on the public to help the legislators by providing
information about the candidates.
The people can submit comments by facsimile: (021) 5715522,
5715524 or internet: www.dpr-ri-komisi-2.or.id.