Ombudsman needs strong legal framework: Observer

JAKARTA (JP): The existence of the government-sanctioned National Ombudsman Commission needs the backing of a strong legal foundation to enable it to effectively monitor executive and judicature institutions, a legal observer said on Friday.

Jimly Asshiddiqie of the Habibie Center stressed the importance of regulating it in the Constitution and not merely depending on presidential instruction.

"Before a law on the commission can be realized, its legal basis should be formulated in the next amendment of the Constitution in an article on its legislative function," he told a one-day seminar on the ombudsman regulation in the Constitution.

"By strengthening the legal basis of the ombudsman, its position will improve, thereby enabling it to be clearly related with the monitoring function of the legislature to the performance of the administration. Its existence will also empower the legislative institution," Jimly added.

The commission was established last year under Presidential Decree No. 44/2000 with the aim of supervising and monitoring the services of the executive and judicature institutions.

The commission, which has the power of giving recommendations to the above-mentioned institutions to change their performance, receives public complaints on losses, injustices or inappropriate treatment in their interaction with the institutions.

Commission chairman Antonius Sujata, who also spoke at the seminar, shared Jimly's remarks, saying that many people were increasingly depending on the commission.

He said that as of Aug. 25 the commission had received 2,111 complaints and most of the recommendations regarding the cases that were sent to the institutions had been responded to well and to the public's advantage.

"This fact shows that the commission cannot be dissolved easily. In the eyes of the international community, an ombudsman body is considered to be an indication of a democratic country, which upholds the people's rights and gives emphasis to the fight against corruption.

"Should the commission be dismissed because of its weak legal foundation, it would set a bad precedence," he said.

Antonius added that out of the 107 countries which have an ombudsman body, at least 50 have regulated it in their constitution.

He argued that under the new legal foundation, the commission would be expected to become a supervisor for the improvement of the state's other institutions, especially in further creating good governance.

"I feel that at this time, some of these institutions, including the police, are still reluctant to accept our existence. This shows that they are still in a corruptive and non-reformative situation," he added. (bby)