Military court to fall under Supreme Court

Military court to fall under Supreme Court

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The administration and supervision of the military court is to be
transferred to the Supreme Court on Sept. 1 in accordance with
Law No. 4/2004 on judicial power, which reinstates a one-roof
judicial system.

However, it remains unclear whether the move will enable a
criminal court to try military personnel.

The transfer should have taken place by June 30 of this year
according to the law, but has been delayed pending the issuance
of the relevant presidential decree, which was signed only on
July 9.

According to Presidential Decree No. 56/2004, a copy of which
was made available to The Jakarta Post, the Supreme Court will
oversee the organization, administration and financial affairs of
the military court, which was formerly the jurisdiction of
Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters.

Stephanus Elgin, head of the Supreme Court's military
division, said the supervision of judges for the court would
remain under the jurisdiction of TNI headquarters.

The decree stipulates that TNI headquarters propose justice
candidates to the Supreme Court, which will approve or reject
them.

The military court will be the last to be transferred under
the Supreme Court, following the state administrative court and
the religious court.

Debate has been rife for decades over military personnel who
commit crimes and are not tried at a civilian court. Critics have
accused the military court of protecting its soldiers, prompted
by the lack of public access to the court.

Law No. 26/1997 on military discipline and Law No. 31/1997 on
military court stipulate that all military personnel are subject
to trial at the military court for crimes and violations of the
Military Law.

In a case involving a presidential guard -- who all hail from
the military -- shooting two Jakarta street vendors, the Jakarta
Police recently handed over the investigation to the guard's
commander, as the two laws remain effective.

No clear follow-up has been conducted on the case by the
military court.

In a separate case in June 2000, the son of former Army chief
Gen. (ret) Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, Second Lt. Agus Isrok, was court-
martialled for illegal possession of drugs. He was sentenced to
four years in jail for the crime, which carries a maximum 10 year
sentence under Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics. Six months later,
however, the Jakarta Military High Court reduced his sentence on
appeal and reinstated him to active duty.

In the few cases when crimes were committed by both military
personnel and civilians, a joint military-civilian tribunal was
set up.

Law observers have suggested military personnel be prosecuted
in a civilian court if they committed crimes that victimized
civilians.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is currently
deliberating a bill on an amended Law No. 31/1997, which
stipulates that military personnel are not subject to only the
military court.

Zain Badjeber, who chairs the House legislation body, has said
that military personnel could be prosecuted by a district court
if they violated the Criminal Code.

However, former Military Police chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Sulaiman
A.B. said in June that Military Police -- in the Army, the Navy
or the Air Force -- would remain in charge of investigations for
the next five years into military personnel alleged to have
violated the Criminal Code for the next five years, citing the
unreadiness of the police.