Middlemen no strangers to local legal system

Middlemen no strangers to local legal system

JAKARTA (JP): Traffic violators routinely avoid lengthy court
procedures and hearings by using middlemen, said a junior
secretary for the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday.

Budiman Sijabat told The Jakarta Post that his efforts to do
away with middlemen have been in vain since people prefer to save
the time and effort.

"The traffic violators are too impatient to go through court
procedures," Sijabat said.

Middlemen, whose presence in the city's courts is a common
sight, operate by offering to get back confiscated driver's
licenses, which the police routinely seize for violating traffic
regulations.

Waiting for the courts to formally process cases and determine
fine levels can take up an entire day or longer. As a result,
many choose to pay the intermediaries to get their licenses back
without having to face a judge.

Sijabat said he has been able to ban some middlemen from the
court areas, but that many linger on. "I've even found them
operating outside the building," he said.

"One solution," he said, "is to not release any driver's
licenses until they've gone through the proper legal procedures."

Bambang Surianto, who was among hundreds of people waiting for
a traffic hearing yesterday, had his license seized by police
after making an illegal turn in the Central Jakarta area.

According to Bambang, paying Rp 30,000 to a middleman to get
his license back is easier and faster than sitting in court and
waiting for a judge to set a fine, which is usually between Rp
26,000 and Rp 60,000.

"I feel more satisfied and I'm sure that most of the money I
pay also goes into the government treasury," he told the Post
after giving money to a man he said was a middleman.

Brokers only get a small percentage of each job, he
explained, the rest probably goes to the police.

A court official, who requested anonymity, said the court
handles nearly 200 traffic violation cases every Tuesday and
Friday.

"Up to half of those scheduled for court opt for middlemen,"
he said.(03)