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