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.