Minister Yusril rules out foreign judges for local courts

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra has rejected a proposal to hire judges from the Netherlands for Indonesian courts because of a perceived dearth of clean local judges.

Speaking at a meeting of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Thursday, Yusril said the proposal would violate the law.

"Hiring Dutch judges is like imposing a new colonialism," Yusril, who is also the party chairman, told The Jakarta Post after opening the meeting.

He suspected the proposal emerged after the government appeared to be lacking in candidates qualified to fill 19 vacancies on the Supreme Court.

The proposal was first disclosed by Faisal Basri, a member of a government economic advisory team, on Monday. He said the government might consider hiring Dutch judges to handle specific cases, such as corporate bankruptcies.

The idea to hire foreign judges was made because of the public impression that most Indonesian judges are corrupt. The Dutch were chosen because Indonesia uses the Dutch judicial system.

Indonesian courts have been criticized for rejecting bankruptcy petitions and hampering the process of settling mountains of unpaid corporate debts.

Yusril disclosed that the proposal to hire foreign judges was discussed at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"But I rejected the idea, although there was an agreement to improve the performance of the commercial courts," he said.

He said the meeting agreed to seek the removal of some heads of Jakarta's five district courts to speed up the improvement process.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung also dismissed the plan to hire foreign judges, saying it would undermine the country's efforts to uphold the supremacy of law.

"It seems that we no longer trust our own judges," Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, said on Wednesday.

He said the government must instead strive to improve the legal apparatus, including judges, police and prosecutors.

He acknowledged the process would take time.

Legal expert Laica Marzuki from Hasanuddin University in Makassar warned the proposal to hire foreign judges would create new problems.

"There are bad judges, but there also judges who are clean and who can be counted on," Laica, who is also a supreme justice candidate, said. (27/jun)