Supreme Court open to petition against PP20

JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court says it is open to petition for a judicial review of the government's recent economic deregulation package which has sparked public debate.

Chief Justice Purwoto Gandasubrata, asked to comment on the debate about the legality of the deregulatory measures, said the Court will act only if presented with a formal application for a judicial review.

The deregulation package technically opened up various strategic economic sectors to foreigners under a joint venture arrangement, allowing foreigners to own up to 95 percent of the equity. These sectors include seaports, telecommunications, power, railways, civil aviation, nuclear power and the mass media.

Critics of the deregulation package, popularly referred to as PP20/1994, say that it contradicts existing laws and therefore must not be enforced.

They cited the 1982 Press Law which bars foreigners from owning partial or full equity in the country's press and broadcasting industries.

"We will review it if, for example, the Indonesian Press Association (PWI) asks us to make a judicial review because it harms the organization in several ways," Purwoto said.

"But the final review must still be carried out by the government," he said after installing 10 new Supreme Court justices.

Judicial review is a rarely used tool, although it is permitted by the legal system.

Purwoto last June issued a regulation giving those who want to contest the legality of any piece of legislation or government regulation two alternatives: contesting it in the lower courts and then appeal to the higher courts all the way to the Supreme Court, or filing for a judicial review directly with the Supreme Court.

In the past 12 months, however, the few cases of judicial review brought before the Supreme Court have failed.

The first was brought by media publisher Surya Paloh to contest the Minister of Information's power to revoke the press publishing license, which he said contravened the 1982 Press Law. His application was turned down.

Purwoto in his speech during the ceremony to install the 10 new justices, said the Supreme Court has been overwhelmed by the huge flow of appeal cases from the lower courts.

There is currently a backlog of more than 16,000 appeals waiting to be cleared by the Court, while each year 7,000 new cases come in.

Each justice is expected to handle 60 to 80 cases a month.

The 10 new justices are Abdul Samad, A. Saniman, H. Chabib Sjarbini, Johanes Djohansjah, Kahardiman, IGB Mahardika, Paulus Wardojo, Safiudin Kartasasmita, Soekardjan Hadisoesanto and S.O. Nainggolan. (prs)