Supreme Court's toughest case is improving its image

Supreme Court's toughest case is improving its image

By Sugianto Tandra

JAKARTA (JP): Legal experts and practitioners expressed
confidence in the capability of newly-appointed Chief Justice
Sarwata, but warned that improving the dismal image of the
supreme court might be his most difficult task yet.

Muladi, the rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro
University, Loebby Loqman of the University of Indonesia and
Frans Hendra Winata of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute all
welcomed Sarwata's appointment, but identified a number of
challenges that he will have to deal with soon.

Interviewed separately, they all said that the biggest
challenge for Sarwata is cleaning up the image of the Supreme
Court and the legal system in general, which has been going from
bad to worse in recent years.

Sarwata, who took office on Friday, was appointed by
presidential decree following the suggestion of the House of
Representatives. He replaced Soerjono who retired on the same
day.

Sarwata's appointment came after months of public uproar over
allegations of rampant corruption among senior justices, spurred
by Deputy Chief Justice for General Crimes Adi Andojo's exposure
of one such case.

The outgoing chief Soerjono has rejected the allegation, but
observers are convinced that the supreme court, often dubbed "the
last bastion of justice", badly needs to repair its image.

The new chief justice should heed public criticism and demands
for a better court, Frans said.

The new chief justice shoulders a heavy and sacred burden,
Frans said. "He has to meet the people's demand for justice and
equality before the law.

"He will have to work extremely hard. And he should be
supported by all levels of legal officers, be they the Supreme
Court justices or judges in the lower courts," Frans said.

Muladi suggested that Sarwata take strong measures against
corrupt judges or justices, and those who abuse their power.

In addition to the question of a tarnished image, the Supreme
Court also struggles with a backlog of cases. House Speaker
Wahono claimed that the Court has 20,000 cases outstanding, while
Soerjono has said there are only 14,000.

Frans said the backlog was caused by the poor quality of the
lower courts. He described how the lower courts tend to bring to
the Supreme Court just about any case they have difficulties
with.

"Those verdicts are often controversial and fail to meet
people's demand for justice, because they were made without a
strong legal basis," he said.

Muladi, who is also a member of the National Commission on
Human Rights, said the Supreme Court needs to work hard to set up
a simple, speedy and inexpensive legal process.

"Delays may mean justice denied," Muladi said. "Sarwata will
have to work hard to handle the problems that remain unsolved."

He agreed that one of the causes for the backlog was the poor
quality of the lower courts.

"I hope that the new justice will try to bring about a new law
which restricts the number of appeals reaching his desk," Muladi
said.

Muladi also offered a number of suggestions, including a call
on the Supreme Court to hold open hearings in cases which affect
the livelihoods of many people.

"Settle disputes without creating new disputes by listening to
all parties' aspirations," he said.

Loebby agreed, saying that the Supreme Court needs to
introduce a new mechanism to help clear the backlog.

"It won't be easy, but the Supreme Court should at least show
the people that efforts are being made to improve the situation,"
Loebby said.

Loebby named another challenge that Sarwata will have to
contend with, namely introducing greater transparency into how
the Supreme Court reaches its rulings.

"That way, people will be able to see whether rulings have
been made properly," he said, adding that greater public insight
into how the Supreme Court works will ensure public control, in
addition to the self-control that all justices must exercise.