Supreme Court submits legal opinion

JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court completed on Wednesday deliberations, as requested by the government, who had asked the court to rule the legality of a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

However, Supreme Court justices were tight-lipped on their conclusion saying that it had to be delivered to the President.

Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan said the court's special team had concluded their legal opinion and they will submit it directly to President Abdurrahman Wahid as soon as possible.

He pointed out that the opinion was not legally binding.

"Our legal opinion is based on the differences in interpretation over the special session. But, because the President asked for it to be confidential, we cannot reveal it now," he told reporters, two hours after the team concluded their meeting.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Baharuddin Lopa appealed again on Tuesday to the Supreme Court to issue an edict on the validity of the House of Representatives' censure motion, which was based on the President's alleged involvement in two financial scandals.

Bagir had initially insisted that the Supreme Court would not be caught up in the political impasse as it was not directly related to their work.

"We eventually took on the task as we had been requested by the government, as stipulated in Article 33 of Supreme Court Law No. 14/1985, which states that the Supreme Court may issue a legal opinion if it is asked or not by either an important institution or the highest-state body.

"But the Supreme Court's legal opinion is not legally binding, so therefore it cannot be used as a guide for the ongoing political process," he explained.

A source close to the Supreme Court justices told The Jakarta Post that the Supreme Court, in its answer to the government, refused to give any legal opinion, contending that the most appropriate institution to give an opinion on political disputes is the Assembly, not the Supreme Court.(02/bby)