Six judges eye two deputy chief posts

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Six judges in the Supreme Court were nominated on Friday to take up two deputy posts that have been vacant for over a year after a preliminary vote by 37 justices at the court here.

The internal election was the first of its kind following the revision of the Supreme Court law. Prior to the revision, the president appointed Supreme Court judges, including the chief justice.

Law No. 4/2004 on the Supreme Court requires the establishment of two deputy chief posts -- one in charge of duties related to case settlements, the other controlling the conduct of the justices.

The last deputy chief judge was Taufik, who retired in 2002.

The six candidates -- all career justices -- are the Supreme Court's supervisory directors Mariana Sutadi and Syamsul Hadi; court director for state administrative affairs Paulus Effendy Lotulung; and court directors for the military German Hoediarto, Abdul Kadir Mappong and Iskandar Kamil.

Mariana, whose husband is a Golkar Party member, has been questioned over her performance in finishing backlog cases, a traditional problem at the Supreme Court. She got 26 votes.

Syamsul, who handles religious affairs cases, has no track record in handling criminal or civil cases. He was in second place with 17 votes.

Paulus came under the spotlight recently following the acquittal of Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung in a high profile corruption case. He got 11 votes.

German, a former soldier, is known for his verdict exonerating former president Soeharto's son Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra in a graft case, which ended with the murder of his fellow justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita.

Tomy had been sentenced to 15 years in jail for the murder. His appeal is currently being reviewed by German. German came fourth with 10 votes.

Iskandar, who secured five votes, is also a former soldier.

Securing seven votes, Mappong earlier failed to secure the deputy chief position in 2000.

Abdul Rahman Saleh, a career judge, who was rumoured to be a popular choice, was missing from the list. The justice is known for his integrity.

Chief Justice Bagir Manan said the final vote, which would take place on March 24, would be open to the public.

He welcomed public input, particularly from legal experts and court employees about the candidates.

"They are also allowed to campaign among their colleagues. We must be transparent now," Bagir said.

Led by Bagir, a law professor, the Supreme Court is currently struggling to reform itself. The reform program has been criticized for running too slowly allegedly due to resistance from some in the court's leadership.

Experts had suggested an open vote in a bid to attract clean, credible judges to the positions, which would accelerate and strengthen reform processes within the court.

This year, the court ended its relations with Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, which had handled the administrative affairs of judges.

The separation is expected to boost the independence of the court. However, experts say without supervision from a judicial commission, it is likely the Supreme Court will go out of control.

The House and the government have yet to finish the deliberation of the bill creating a judicial commission.