Two senior judges to vie for post of Chief Justice

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)