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Supreme Court needs younger judges: Graft body
The collapse of Supreme Court deputy chief Harifin A
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The collapse of Supreme Court deputy chief Harifin A. Tumpa at a recent ceremony has prompted a call for old timers at the top court to be replaced, with experts saying the election of a new chief justice should no longer be based on seniority.
Harifin, 66, the oldest justice at the Supreme Court, suddenly fell down when inaugurating six new justices last week. However, it appears he remains the strongest candidate to replace Bagir Manan, who resigned last November as chief justice.
"The health of a chief justice will have a strong effect on the upholding of justice. It would be a blessing for an Indonesian to reach 70 years in good shape both mentally and psychically," Illian Deta Arta Sari of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) told a news conference in Jakarta on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, most people of that age are prone to illness and that would affect the handling of cases at the Supreme Court."
She criticized the newly endorsed Supreme Court law that extends the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 67 to 70, despite that the average life expectancy in Indonesia is 65 to 67.
"The fact also shows that 20 to 30 percent of justice candidates proposed by the Supreme Court failed to pass health checks despite only being 60- to 62-years-old," Illian said.
She said having a justice that suffered from dementia or a physical illness presiding over the case could delay a verdict for years.
She urged incumbent justices wishing to remain in office to undergo frequent health check-ups.
"There must also be an improvement in the election system for chief justice," she said.
Even though the Supreme Court Law allows a chief justice to be elected internally, she said the process must be transparent to the public.
Candidates for chief justice should state their goals publicly and should not simply be chosen based on their seniority.
"The vision and mission are important as a guidance for the chief justice's responsibility for the public once he or she is elected," she said.
The Supreme Court is expected to elect its new chairman by mid this month.
She said the ICW would file a request with the Constitutional Court to review the new Supreme Court law in late January.
A political expert from the University of Indonesia, Lili Romli, agreed younger justices were needed at the Supreme Court.
"There are many people out there who are no longer eligible to serve as Supreme Court justice," he said.
He questioned the motives behind the persistence of the House of Representatives and the government to extend the retirement age of justices to 70 years old.
"There must be a hidden agenda behind the decision," Lili said.
