Two senior judges to vie for post of Chief Justice
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) yesterday nominated two respected, senior justices to replace Purwoto Suhadi Gandasubrata as chief of the Supreme Court.
The candidates are Mohammad Djaelani, currently the vice to the chief justice, and Suryono, the deputy chief justice in charge of traditional civil cases.
Their names will be submitted to President Soeharto, who will select one of them to fill the highest level vacancy in the Indonesian judicial system.
The nominations were presented during a House plenary session chaired by Deputy Speaker Ismail Hasan Metareum of the United Development Faction (F-PPP).
Chief Justice Purwoto, who was appointed to head the Supreme Court in June 1992, will retire from office when he turns 65 on Oct. 11.
The favorite to be appointed is Djaelani, who was also nominated for the post two years ago.
A native of Wirengan, Central Java, he is a retired army major general and a graduate of the Military Law University.
Djaelani built his career in the military court as a prosecutor. He also served as director of the Military Law Academy and the Military Law University.
He rose to public prominence when in 1991, as a member of the Supreme Court, he was appointed to head the national commission to investigate the bloody clashes between the military and East Timor demonstrators, an incident that sparked an international outcry.
Suryono, who will 63 next month, hails from Solo, Central Java. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia in 1956 and took advanced courses on human rights in 1971 and administrative law in 1990.
He began his career as a government prosecutor and later as a a judge. He joined the Supreme Court in 1992 as Deputy Chief Justice in charge of Traditional Civil Cases.
Whoever is selected by President Soeharto, he will serve only for two years because the mandatory retirement age remains 65.
Most DPR members privately said they prefer Djaelani because of his vast experience and seniority in rank.
Suhardi, chairman of the DPR's Commission III, which deals with legal affairs, said Djaelani's current position as the Deputy Chief Justice as well as his experience in probing the Dili incident are factors in his favor.
Promoted
Handjojo Putro of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction (F- PDI) agreed that Djaelani should get the job. "There's a tradition here that the vice chief justice is promoted."
Soesanto Bangoennagoro, a legislator of the Golkar faction, said both candidates have an equal opportunity because they are both senior justices with much experience and equal capacity in dealing with legal matters.
Suryono appears to have won the support of most legal practitioners as most have stressed the need for a career judge to fill the post.
Harjono Tjitrosoebono, a respected lawyer, said the next chief justice will have plenty of homework to do, including clearing up the backlog of appeal cases.
This requires a chief justice who has been a long time judge, Harjono said.
Harjono declined to specifically state his preference between the two, stressing that the most important thing is that the next chief justice fight for the independence of the Supreme Court and all the lower courts. "The public is demanding an independent Supreme Court, one that is free of the government's influence," he said.
Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, a Surabaya-based lawyer who has handled a number of controversial cases, was more forthright in stressing his preference for Suryono because he has been a judge longer than Djaelani.
Trimoelja also emphasized the need for an independent chief justice, to ensure that the judicial branch is totally independent of the executive branch. (02)