President will install new chief justice today

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto will install today Sarwata and T.H. Ketut Suraputra as the new chief justice and the vice chief justice at the Merdeka State Palace.

Sarwata will replace Soerjono who retires today, while Suraputra will replace Djaelani who retired early last month.

Sarwata, 61, is a retired air force commodore whose last position was Deputy Chief Justice for Military Tribunals while Suraputra, 61, is leaving his post as Deputy Chief Justice for the State Administrative Court.

The appointment was made in a presidential decree dated Oct. 29, 1996 following advice from the House of Representatives.

House Speaker Wahono and observers have said that two of the major challenges facing the Supreme Court are the body's poor public image following allegations of corruption and collusion amongst senior justices, and a backlog of some 20,000 cases.

The House proposed four names for the two positions during a rigorous selection process because the Supreme Court's performance had been a matter of "deep concern," Wahono had said. The other two names proposed by the House were Suwardi Martowirono and Chabib Sjarbini.

Outgoing chief justice Soerjono yesterday said in a farewell ceremony for eight retiring colleagues that the new chief will face an uphill task in handling the backlog of over 14,000 cases.

Soerjono told reporters that the absence of criteria for assessing which cases should or should not be brought to the Supreme Court is partly to blame for the backlog.

Separately, former chief justice Purwoto Gandasubrata said the chief justice was expected to restore the institution's public image.

Purwoto shared Soerjono's opinion about the need for a law to ensure that the body won't be overwhelmed by cases that would take a long time to process.

In a separate interview, lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said he agreed with Soerjono and Purwoto about the need to screen cases going to the Supreme Court.

"I think there should be clear criteria set. It will be impossible for the court to handle all cases," Mulya said, citing among others divorce cases and traffic violation cases.

"Cases relating to one's constitutional rights should be brought to the Supreme Court. For instance, the banned Tempo case, or subversive cases," he said.

However, legislator Handjojo Putro did not agree.

"It is more important that judges in the lower courts make quality verdicts so that people will not have to appeal to the Supreme Court," he said. (26)