Performance of legal enforcers remains poor

Performance of legal enforcers remains poor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's law enforcers remain unable to satisfy people in
terms of service, raising doubt over their capability in
upholding justice, the National Ombudsman Commission said.

The commission said public complaints over the performance of
law enforcement agencies and other related institutions had been
widespread since its establishment in 2000.

It has so far recorded 4,373 complaints from the public, more
than one-third of them about at the courts.

Of the complaints, 14 percent were related to bribery,
corruption, collusion and nepotism, another 14 percent to
sluggish service and 13 percent to procedural violations. The
remaining were connected to discrimination or illegal possession
of private property.

"The fact that most of the complaints were related to poor
service by law enforcement institutions revealed endemic problems
stemming from the incapability of court clerks, judges, police
officers and prosecutors," ombudsman chairman Antonius Sujata
said in a year-end statement.

He said that the commission had forwarded the complaints to
related institutions and provided recommendations on how to
address the issues. But only 60 percent of the agencies
responded.

Antonius admitted that many state officials tended to ignore
recommendations from his commission, whose decisions are not
legally binding.

The country has yet to set up a law on the ombudsman
commission that could strengthen the status of the commission.

The ombudsman commission was established under a presidential
decree in 2000 in a bid to help promote good governance.

Earlier this year, the bill on the ombudsman commission was
submitted to the previous House of Representatives for
deliberation. However, the government failed to appoint a
minister to represent it in the deliberation, prompting the
postponement of the bill's debate.

The current House does not deem the bill a priority.

Many have suggested that the commission requires a powerful
legal basis to enable it to investigate citizen's complaints
about abuses by government officials and agencies.

Unlike in countries where ombudsmen have long been recognized,
the country's ombudsman commission has its job reduced to
conveying the results of an investigation into complaints it
receives from the public to related state agencies for follow up.

According to the presidential decree on the formation of the
commission, the independent institution has the authority to
clarify, monitor or investigate public reports of services
provided by state agencies and government apparatus, including
law enforcement bodies.

It also stipulates that the new body aims to create a
favorable environment for the eradication of corruption,
collusion and nepotism, along with the protection of the rights
of the general public to obtain public services, justice and
better welfare.