Ombudsman Law Amendment a Chance to Strengthen Ethics Council

It’s like ‘jeruk makan jeruk’ — that can’t be effective. Amendment to the Ombudsman Law presents an opportunity to formalise the ethics council as a supervisory body. Manejer Nasution, a member of the Ombudsman RI Ethics Council, stated that almost all oversight agencies, if not monitored themselves, have the potential for abuse. ‘Therefore, an independent watchdog is needed. Especially since the Ombudsman Law amendment has been included in the National Legislation Programme (Prolegnas),’ Manejer said at a press conference in Jakarta on Friday. Manejer noted that under current regulations, the Ombudsman’s ethics council is ad hoc and only formed when there is a specific need or momentum. If violations are committed by officials below the secretary-general, an ethics council is formed, whereas for secretary-generals and above or leadership, it is called an ethics panel. ‘So that it can respond to public complaints and find issues from media reports. Once there’s news, it becomes a finding,’ Jimly said in the same event. If there’s media coverage, he said, the council doesn’t need to wait for complaints or reports as cases can be resolved independently once identified. Conversely, if the council is not independent, he said, issues cannot be resolved immediately but must first be decided through a plenary session. ‘That’s like ’jeruk makan jeruk’ — it can’t be effective,’ he said. Dozens of bills were approved after the House of Representatives’ Legal Affairs Committee (Baleg DPR) held a meeting to draft the 2026 Priority Bills with the Ministry of Law and the Regional Representative Council (DPD RI). Several 2026 priority bills are carryovers from 2025 to anticipate unfinished discussions. The bill to amend Law No. 37 of 2008 on the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia has been included in the 2026 Priority Legislation Programme, with the Baleg DPR as the proposer.