New Supreme Court justices sworn in

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