Why foreign judges?
Why foreign judges?
If I understand correctly, all judges serving at Jakarta
courts will shortly be presided over by foreign judges, in this
case American judges. I am not sure where the idea came from or
who whispered it but reportedly President Abdurrahman Wahid has
given his blessing to the plan.
It is assumed that the judges are abusing their authority and
can easily be bribed to settle a case. It is known that in Peru
an experiment was conducted and has successfully gotten rid of
corrupt judges.
The idea looks brilliant on paper but it is doubtful,
according to my inexperienced court practice and observations,
that it will work here as well. Also what about the many public
prosecutors? Are they to be replaced by the Japanese as well or
by the Swedes from where the Ombudsman system originates.
One must remember that not every criminal or corruptor speaks
English so there will be a massive amount of translation
required. The legal system may be different, too. Carrying a gun
may be legal in a U.S. state and the judge may overlook the fact
that here it is a legal offense. Surely, American judges or
public prosecutors will not be willing to earn smaller salaries
here than in the U.S. Can we afford to pay higher fees while our
debt burden is so large?
The Dutch penal code seems more appropriate to be practiced
here since Indonesian laws are almost a copy of the Dutch system,
even in terminology, although the French have an historic
influence over the Dutch from the time of Napoleon.
It is much easier and more effective to replace Indonesian
boxers with American athletes or soccer players with basketball
players than replacing judges or public prosecutors with those
who don't even have any experience sentencing a chicken thief in
Indonesia.
To get rid of the corrupt mentality among Indonesians may be
compared to catching all the mice in a province of Java. If
members of the House of Representatives, judges, police chiefs
and others accept bribes, it just means that the nation is
morally sick. It may take one or two generations to heal the
situation, but only if there are enough people who set an example
of honesty and modest living; if there is less greed and if
people are less inclined to heap up wealth.
Those American judges must first be informed of the Indonesian
mental disease and corrupt environment.
GANDHI SUKARDI
Jakarta