Supreme Court to take over judge supervisory role
Supreme Court to take over judge supervisory role
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Supreme Court will soon take over the promotion and
supervision of judges as lawmakers are close to completing
amendments to both the public court and state administrative
court laws.
Legislators said on Sunday that they had agreed on virtually
all the revisions to Law No. 2/1986 on public court and Law No.
5/1986 on the state administrative court.
The revisions are necessary to bring the two laws in line with
the newly amended 1945 Constitution, which gives the Supreme
Court the mandate to supervise and promote judges in both the
public and state administrative courts.
"We have completed the revisions of the two laws and started
the revisions of the attorney law," legislator M. Sjaiful Rachman
of the United Development Party (PPP) told The Jakarta Post on
Sunday.
Currently, the supervision and promotion of judges in the
public court and state administrative court are carried out by
the justice ministry.
Fellow legislator M. Akil Mochtar of Golkar, however, said
that House members and the government were still debating whether
or not judges were part of the state apparatus.
"We will bring this issue to a meeting with the minister of
justice and human rights scheduled for next week," Akil said
without giving any details.
Both Sjaiful and Akil are members of the House working
committee assigned to deliberate the revision of five judicial
laws.
Revisions of Law No.14/1970 on the authority of judges and Law
No. 14/1985 on the Supreme Court were completed last December and
took effect last month.
They said the House would try its best to finish the revisions
in this sitting period, expected to end on March 10.
Apart from shifting the management of judicial matters from
the justice ministry to the Supreme Court, the bills also
regulate the immunity of judges against legal charges.
Article 26 of the public court bill states that chairman,
deputy chairman, and judges in public courts can be detained upon
the instruction of the Attorney General following recommendation
from the chief justice of the Supreme Court, except when caught
red-handed, accused of committing a crime punishable by death or
a crime against the state.
Revision of the laws were made in line with amendments to the
Constitution.
The amendment mandates the nation shift the management of
judicial affairs from the justice and human rights ministry to
the Supreme Court.
Akil said that all laws related to this issue must be revised
and adjusted to the constitutional amendments.
"Article 24 of the amended Constitution states that judicial
authority is executed by the Supreme Court and other institutions
under the Supreme Court," he told the Post.
The House will also discuss a bill on the establishment of the
judicial commission. The formation of the judicial commission --
that will be responsible for the recruitment of judges -- is also
mandated in the Constitution.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Some revisions to the Public Court Law
Article 13: (1) Promotion and supervision of judges is to be
carried
out by the Supreme Court.
(2) Promotion and supervision must not affect the
independence of judges.
Article 26: Chairman, deputy chairman, and judges of the court
can be detained upon the orders of the attorney general following
recommendation from the chief justice of the Supreme Court,
except:
(1) when arrested red-handed,
(2) when accused of committing a crime where the penalty is
death,
(3) when accused of committing a crime against the state.
Some revisions to the State Administrative Court Law
Article 7: Technical, organizational and administrative
promotion is carried out by
the Supreme Court.
Article 26: Chairman, deputy chairman, and judges can be detained
with upon the order of the attorney general following
approval from the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
---------------------------------------------------------------