Legislators: Only a few justices likely get approval

Legislators: Only a few justices likely get approval

JAKARTA (JP): With two thirds of the 46 Supreme Court justice
candidates screened by legislators on Sunday, early indications
suggest that very few would likely be endorsed by the House of
Representatives.

Such was the gravity of the situation, according to some, that
some legislators were already considering asking the government
to propose more candidates, indicating that those who pass the
fit-and-proper-test may be even less than the 20 vacancies at the
Supreme Court.

The test is a newly established procedure to screen for
justices. In the past it was the Supreme Court who proposed the
names which were then endorsed by the president.

Julius Usman, a member of the working committee of the House
of Representatives' Commission II on home and legal affairs, said
on Sunday that so far he only saw eight qualified candidates.

He did not name them, saying only that the number was equal
between career judges and non-career judges.

"If the number of candidates passed does not meet the number
needed, then the government should submit additional names to us
to be screened again," he told journalists on the sidelines of
the test which began on Friday.

As of 6 p.m. Sunday, 30 candidates has been quizzed over their
vision and mission as Supreme Court justices. Their moral
integrity and legal knowledge were also important components in
the questioning.

"Judging from their appearance, I think only a few of them
have the quality to become supreme justices," he said.

"You saw for yourself some candidates could not differentiate
bribery from gifts...Some forgot the content of their oaths as
judges and lacked knowledge of legal affairs," he added.

Another committee member, Panda Nababan, seemed even less
enthusiastic about the candidates, maintaining that only five, in
his estimation, were suitable for the job.

"Most of them are lousy," he told journalists, saying that
while most seemed resolute in their convictions they were simply
not well prepared.

Despite the few "successes", Panda said the screening process
was laudable.

"No personal faction interest was brought into the test or the
assessment proceedings. In fact, a faction which supported a
candidate is usually more incessant in quizzing the candidate,"
he remarked.

Sunday's screening slated 11 candidates to undergo the test,
including the noted Judge Benjamin Mangkoedilaga.

Former minister of justice Muladi is slated to undergo the
screening on Monday, together with ten other candidates.

One notable incident on Sunday was when Judge Zulkifli Lubis
admitted that he had received a Rp 3 million "gift" from a
defendant in a past case.

"But it (the gift) came long after I issued the verdict. I had
almost forgotten the case when the defendant gave it to me," he
assured the legislators.

Working Committee Chairman Hartono Marjono refused to make an
early assessment of the proceedings.

However, he indicated that the committee is ready to conduct
another screening if the number of those passed was insufficient.

"It's not the number we are working on, but the quality. Even
if we can only pass two candidates, they must be the best," he
added.

The committee is due to present its report to the President on
Tuesday. (bby)