Never argue with judges, police

Never argue with judges, police

JAKARTA (JP): Never try arguing with a judge in a traffic
violation case hearing. You will only be disappointed because the
judge will ignore your objections.

Meet Sumarno, 45, who was on trial at the South Jakarta
District Court on Tuesday.

He was ticketed for changing the original car license plate
made by the police with an embossed plate he ordered from a
street-side kiosk.

He told the court that when he was ticketed in Kuningan, there
were other cars with the same type of plate, but the police let
them go. He also argued that the traffic law did not stipulate
that an embossed plate was not allowed.

"But the judge didn't even hear me," Sumarno complained after
Tuesday morning's hearing.

He was fined Rp 40,000 and had to pay a Rp 600 trial fee.

Sumarno said it was his first time in court and he decided to
attend the trial to seek justice as he believed that he was not
wrong.

A judge told The Jakarta Post that any objection should be
filed with the police office when a motorist is ticketed, not
during the trial.

"Our authority is only to present the verdict," said the
judge, who requested anonymity.

Judges in ticketing cases usually ignore any objection from
defendants as they do not have time to discuss the problem due to
the big number of cases they have to handle.

It is also useless arguing with the police who give you a
ticket because the officer would tell you to present the argument
before the court.

What is likely to happen is that the officer might offer to
settle the incident peacefully, meaning that he would ask you to
pay the "fine" directly to him (without any receipt) and then let
you go. (04)