Sarwata replaces Soerjono

JAKARTA (JP): Deputy Chief Justice for Military Tribunals Sarwata will be the next chief justice, replacing Soerjono who is retiring tomorrow, an informed source said yesterday.

"There was a letter of notification on Tuesday from the state secretary, in which Sarwata and T.H. Ketut Suraputra had been respectively named as chief and vice chief justice," the source, who asked for anonymity, told The Jakarta Post.

Sarwata, 61, shot to prominence when he led a team in the investigation of alleged collusion in the highest judicial institution early this year. Suraputra, 60, was also one of the team.

Suraputra, the incumbent deputy chief justice for the State Administrative court, is taking over the post left by Muhammad Djaelani who retired last month.

Soerjono will lead a ceremony today to bid farewell to Djaelani and several other justices.

The House of Representatives earlier this month proposed Sarwata and Justice Suwardi Martowirono for the chief justice post, and Saraputra and Chabib Sjarbini for the post of vice chief justice.

The Supreme Court is currently swamped by a backlog of 20,000 cases, straining its performance so much that there has been sharp criticism about it no longer functioning as a judicial institution which provides simple, speedy and cheap legal processing. (26)