New appointment hopes to improve judicial system
New appointment hopes to improve judicial system
JAKARTA (JP): Legal experts and practitioners welcome
President Soeharto's appointment of Soerjono as the new chief
justice, hoping that he will be able to improve the image of the
legal system.
Soerjono, a career judge, was appointed the new chief justice
on Friday to replace Purwoto Suhadi Gandasubrata, who will retire
tomorrow.
Prominent legal experts Soetandyo Wignjosoebroto, Todung Mulya
Lubis, and Adnan Buyung Nasution, all agreed on Saturday with
President Soeharto's view that the new chief justice should be a
career judge.
"A career judge has deep knowledge of the judicial system in
terms of theory, as well as practice," Soetandyo, a member of the
National Commission on Human Rights, said.
Soetandyo said that although ensuring fair trials is a very
difficult job, Soerjono should try to do so.
"I believe that it will be difficult for Soerjono, especially
when the public interests have to face those of a few but
powerful people," he said.
A similar view was aired by Buyung Nasution, a well known
lawyer and human rights campaigner.
"An experienced career judge is more capable of pursuing fair
and equal justice," he said when addressing a gathering for the
24th anniversary of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI),
on Friday.
He said that Soerjono will have to work harder than ever in
the coming two-year period of leadership because many problems
remain unresolved, he said.
Underlining Nasution's opinion, Mulya Lubis, a human rights
activist, said: "A chief justice, as the supreme authority in
the judicial system, is expected to be courageous and assertive."
He said the new chief justice must be able to ensure fairness
in every court decision, from the lowest court up to the Supreme
Court.
Courage
He said Soerjono must have the courage to correct the present
flaws in the judicial system, such as taking punitive measures
against corrupt judges and those who abuse their power.
Soerjono, 63, hails from Solo, Central Java. He graduated from
the University of Indonesia's school of law in 1956 and took
advanced courses on human rights in 1971 and on administrative
law in 1990.
He began his career as a state prosecutor and later worked as
a judge. He was a prosecutor at the Jakarta High Prosecutor's
Office for two years before he became a judge in 1959.
Soerjono was head of several high prosecutor's offices in
Medan, Palembang, Denpasar and Jakarta, before he was appointed a
senior judge in 1982 and then as deputy chief justice in 1992.
The new chief justice, who defeated his only rival, M.
Djaelani, refused comment when reporters asked him about his
plans.
"Please wait until the president swears me in," he said,
adding that he had not yet received the Presidential Decree for
the new post.
"All I can say is thank God," he said. (imn)