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Judicial bodies told to end rift, speed up reform
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 10/30/2006 11:19 AM
Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Rivalry among officials of the Supreme Court and Judicial Commission must end or judicial reform will remain an empty slogan, analysts say.
In the latest incident highlighting the bitter conflict, Chief Justice Bagir Manan has rejected an invitation from the Judicial Commission to attend an recruitment interview of nine justice candidates this Tuesday and Wednesday.
""By declining to honor the commission's invitation, Bagir is adding fuel to the fire,"" Bivitri Susanti of the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
Azlaini Agus, a member of the law commission at the House of Representatives, deplored Bagir's tactics, saying he should have accepted the invitation as a token of goodwill to improve the relationship between the two institutions.
The conflict between the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission started early this year when the media reported that the commission made public a list of 13 problematic justices. Five of the justices reported the commission to the police for defamation.
Forty justices later filed a request for judicial review with the Constitutional Court to strip the commission of its oversight power. To the surprise of the public, the request was granted.
The Supreme Court has since been slammed for its alleged resistance to reform by frowning upon external oversight.
The two are preparing revisions to the Judicial Commission Law that was passed in 2004. Commission chief Busyro Muqoddas said he would file for legislative review with the House for greater or ""proportional"" authority.
The government had earlier declined the commission's request to be given more power through the enactment of a regulation in lieu of law, saying there was no compelling reason for the President to issue such a regulation.
The House has promised it will endorse the Judicial Commission's request and has put it on its priority list in the 2007 national legislature program.
Bivitri said the Judicial Commission still played an important role in the process of judicial reform as it had the authority to recruit justices for the Supreme Court.
Harmony between the commission and the Supreme Court is then even more imperative to ensure that the justices recommended by the commission receive full support from the justices in the Supreme Court.
""The disharmony would halt case distribution and increase the political rift in the recruitment process. The justice candidates may have to wait longer to be elected as the old justices have not yet retired,"" she said. ""I'm afraid they will expend their energy fighting and not for reform,"" she added.
The law allows the commission to recommend three candidates for each vacant position in the Supreme Court. The commission, however, has only been able to propose nine candidates for six vacant positions in the court as only six passed the screening process out of 120 who applied.
