Soerjono proposes changes in RI's judicial system
Soerjono proposes changes in RI's judicial system
JAKARTA (JP): Chief Justice R. Soerjono warned yesterday that
the huge backlog of appeal cases in his office will keep mounting
unless the laws regulating the judicial system are amended.
Both the judiciary law of 1970 and the Supreme Court law of
1985 allow justice seekers to appeal to the Supreme Court, which
has resulted in a huge backlog of appeal cases.
Soerjono said that in the future, the kinds of cases that may
be brought to the Supreme Court will have to be restricted and
minor cases handled by lower courts.
"The back cases will never be resolved unless the laws are
revised," he told journalists after addressing a seminar on the
legal system at Golkar headquarters.
Currently there are an estimated 17,000 cases pending Supreme
Court settlement and the number increases by about 2,000 each
year.
Soerjono said the stack will grow even faster because rapid
economic development has also brought with it financial crime.
Many of these cases will no doubt be addressed at the highest
level, compounded by the fact that Indonesia has yet to pass any
statutes of limitations.
In terms of financial cases in Britain, for example, only
cases with a nominal value of at least 5,000 pounds sterling can
be brought to the supreme court.
"Cases with a nominal value below 5,000 pounds sterling are
supposed to be settled at the district court level," he said.
The one-day seminar discussing how to solve the Supreme
Court's problem of backlog also featured senior judge Yahya
Harahap, academic Harjono from the Airlangga University in
Surabaya, and Dr. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a lecturer at the
University of Indonesia.
Harahap said the Supreme Court would never be able to finish
the cases on its desks by simply recruiting more senior judges,
the system it presently employs.
"The senior judges already number 51 and the problems remain
unresolved," he said.
He said that the number of cases brought to the Supreme Court
rapidly increased when the court issued a ruling requiring
district and high courts to complete each case in less than six
months.
Credibility
He pointed out that the problem was just one of several things
damaging the credibility of the Supreme Court in the eyes of the
people.
Another, he specifically pointed out, was the lack of
professionalism and a sound work ethic to guide Indonesian
judges. Many are dissatisfied with their verdicts and encouraged
to appeal.
He also pointed at legal professions, especially lawyers,
which often encourage their clients to appeal to higher courts,
even without sufficient legal grounds to do so.
Harahap suggested the establishment of an independent
mediatory body, commonly practiced in the United States and
Australia, to be in charge of determining the worthiness of a
case appeal.
He said the body would encourage settlements "in a spirit of
brotherhood."
Settling disputes with the help of a mediatory body would save
a lot of money and also the time of disputing parties, he added.
Harkristuti, however, questioned the effectiveness of such
mediatory body and said, "Justice delayed means justice denied,
while justice hurried also means justice denied." (imn)