New Supreme Court justices sworn in
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Chief Justice Bagir Manan installed on Tuesday 14 new Supreme Court justices, who are expected to give the highest judicial body new blood to deal with the mounting backlog of cases, which this year exceed 19,000.
The court now has 51 justices.
All the new-installed justices are career judges who have held key positions in the Supreme Court's bureaucracy. Most of them are in their early 60s.
"The installation of career judges as Supreme Court justices is an integral part of the reform in the Supreme Court.
"Having been involved in the court for more than three years, we believe there are some judges with integrity despite the skepticism of legal observers," Bagir said.
Apart from the backlog of cases, the court has to hear some 800 appeal cases each month.
Bagir warned the justices against taking advantage from the cases they are hearing.
"If you fail to uphold the Court's mandate, I will not hesitate in taking firm action for the sake of the on-going reform movement within the Supreme Court," he said.
During the court's 59th anniversary last month, Bagir said that the court would speed up internal reform due to the tarnished image of the country's judiciary.
Also on Tuesday, Bagir inaugurated 14 provincial high court presidents,
New justices
No. Name Age Old position
1. Harifin A. Tumpa 62 Jakarta High Court president
2. Moegihardjo 62 Supreme Court criminal division
head 3. Gunanto Suryono 62 Supreme Court secretary-general
4. Muhammad Taufik 61 S. Sumatra High Court president
5. R. Imam Harjadi 62 Lampung High Court president
6. Abbas Said 61 Riau High Court president
7. Andar Purba 63 Supreme Court's civil affairs
division head
8. Djoko Sarwoko 62 C. Java High Court president
9. I Made Tara 61 Bali High Court president
10. Atja Sondjaja 62 W. Kalimantan High Court president
11. Susanti Adi Nugroho 63 Supreme Court research and
development head
12. Bahaudin Qaudry 63 W. Sumatra High Court president
13. Imam Soebechi 58 Supreme Court state administrative
affairs division head
14. Marina Sidabutar 61 N. Sumatra Administrative Court
president
New provincial high court presidents
No. Name Province 1. Soeparno W. Sumatra 2. Sartono Riau 3. Sofyan Zen S. Sumatra 4. Suryanto Yogyakarta 5. Rapotan Harahap Lampung 6. M. Arsyad Sanusi SE Sulawesi 7. Ben Suhanda Syah Jakarta 8. Nana Juwana W. Java and Banten 9. Mohammad Arif Jambi 10. Stephanus Soetrisno C. Java 11. Kimar Saragih Siadari N. Sulawesi 12. Gusti Made Lingga Bali 13. Dalil Achmad W. Kalimantan 14. Hefni H.S. Hasan Jambi Religious High Court