President will install new chief justice today
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)