Supreme Court Says 75% of KY Reports Concern Procedural Law, Not Judge Ethics Violations

The Supreme Court (MA) has stated that approximately 75 per cent of alleged violations of the Code of Ethics and Judicial Conduct (KEPPH) that became a polemic in a Judicial Commission (KY) release relate to procedural law and technical judicial matters, not ethical violations by judges. MA Spokesperson and Head of the MA Supervisory Chamber, Prof. Yanto, said the data published by the KY had caused a misunderstanding because the majority of the cases in question fall within the technical judicial domain. “Because they found it there. The point is that the data is actually from 2025 during the previous KY’s term. And 75 per cent of it concerns procedural law,” Yanto said at the MA Building on Monday (3/8).

According to Yanto, cases relating to the application of procedural law or the substance of a judge’s decision cannot be assessed as ethical violations. He said such matters must be resolved through legal remedies regulated by legislation. “Errors in procedural law or the substance of a decision are not within the ethical domain. The resolution is through legal remedies, from appeal, cassation, to judicial review,” he stated. He also requested that a more detailed explanation regarding the origin of the data be delivered directly by the KY as the institution that compiled and released the report. “So for more complete, concrete details, if it’s not detailed enough, ask them. Because the source is there. Of course, if they have corrected it and apologised, for me as an Indonesian, that’s fine,” he said.

Following the correction and apology from the KY leadership, the Supreme Court decided to cancel a press conference that had been prepared to respond to the controversy over the data on alleged judge violations. “The point is that because it has been corrected and there has been an apology from the KY leadership, the press release is no longer relevant,” Yanto said. The controversy began with a KY press conference on Thursday (30/7) regarding the Semester I 2026 judicial supervision report. On that occasion, the KY reported receiving 1,402 public reports from January to June 2026, consisting of 740 reports of alleged KEPPH violations and 662 external confirmations. After verification, 676 reports were declared eligible. The KY then brought 207 reports to a plenary session and concluded that 73 reports were proven violations, with proposed sanctions for 121 judges. KY Member for Judge Supervision and Investigation, Abhan Misbah, also confirmed the figures on Friday (31/7). However, the data subsequently created a public perception that there had been a spike in judge ethics violations following a 280 per cent increase in judges’ salaries and allowances. Responding to this, KY Chairman Abdul Chair Ramadhan on Monday (3/8) publicly apologised to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and all judges in Indonesia at the opening of the selection interview for supreme court justices and ad hoc judges at the KY Building, Jakarta. According to Yanto, the MA accepted the apology graciously because the KY leadership had acknowledged the error in conveying the information.