Scholars lament pressure on judges

SEMARANG (JP): Indonesian judges find it hard to remain impartial because too many parties intervene in cases, a law professor at the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University said yesterday.

Sudikno Mertokusumo said judges often faced dilemmas because they were squeezed by "internal and external pressures".

"This is not something than can be easily confirmed. But it is undoubtedly felt that our judges are often pressured into making certain decisions through bribery or physical intimidation by people outside the courts," Sudikno told a seminar on judicial power at the Diponegoro University here yesterday.

Judges are pressured from within the system by "recommendations" or telephone calls from members of the Supreme Court demanding they make certain rulings, he said.

"Pressures like these have made our judges incapable of objectivity when making decisions. Many of our judges have lost their integrity," he said.

The seminar also featured legal experts Muladi, Satjipto Rahardjo and Soehardjo S.S. from Diponegoro University, and Yusril Ihza Mahendra from the University of Indonesia.

Yusril supported Sudikno's opinion, but attributed part of the problem to poor court management. He said district and provincial judges were supervised by three different institutions.

The Ministry of Justice supervises judges handling general and civil crimes, the Ministry of Religious Affairs supervises judges of religious affairs while the Ministry of Defense and Security supervises military tribunal judges.

"Judges are part of the bureaucracy and must remain loyal to the government. And then they have to deal with disputes between the government and the public. How can they be independent?" he said.

In terms of independence, Yusril said, senior judges at the Supreme Court were the same with their juniors.

"Senior judges are judges of lower courts who have been promoted. They cannot relinquish their status as civil servants, although they have become senior government officials with non- active membership at the Corps of Civil Servants," he said.

Sharing Yusril's view, Satjipto suggested reforms in the supervision of judges. (har/imn)