A day before its last in office, parliament passed on Tuesday what appeared to be a compromised corruption court law, accommodating legislators' wishes to set up local graft courts within the notorious judiciary.
Bowing to public pressure, it also incorporates demands that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) retain its authority to wiretap and prosecute suspects.
Indonesia will soon have 33 corruption courts at the provincial level and more than 400 at the regencies and municipalities.
However, the decision concerning the other controversial issue - the composition of the panel of judges dealing with corruption cases - has been left to the courts or the Supreme Court.
"On behalf of the government, I declare that we agree to pass the corruption court bill into law," said Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta during the House of Representatives' plenary session.
The law settles fears that the KPK, considered a breakthrough in the country's fight against graft, together with the Corruption Court, would be stripped of its powers.
However critics had raised concerns of a "court mafia" and "intervention from local elite" in the event of the establishment of corruption courts at the more remote provincial and regency/municipality levels.
Heated deliberation of the bill has coincided with intense police investigation of KPK leaders.
KPK chairman Antasari Azhar is suspected of murder and bribery, while two of its four deputies have been charged with bribery and abuse of power.
Three years ago, the Constitutional Court insisted that as the Corruption Court was based on the 2004 KPK law on the KPK, it required its own legal footing.
Both the KPK and the Corruption Court have fast gained a reputation for sending all of their defendants to jail.
This has contributed to fears that influential parties seeking to avoid prosecution were attempting to weaken the powers of both bodies.
When questioned about the hundreds of local courts, chairman of the House committee deliberating the law, Arbab Paproeka, said the lowest level corruption courts "would be established gradually".
Arbab also referred to Article 36, which states that both the KPK and the district prosecutors have the authority to prosecute.
Demands that there be a legal ruling addressing the larger number of ad hoc judges rather than career judges have not been met.
Article 36 states that the decision of the number and composition of judges will be determined by the respective head of courts or the Supreme Court, in accordance with the level of each case.
Although the law allowed the KPK to retain its authority to prosecute suspected corrupt officials, rather than transferring that power to the Attorney General's Office as feared, critics said the law was open to multiple interpretations.
Article 28 states "all evidence presented in trials, including those gained from wiretapping, must be legally obtained in accordance to existing regulations".
Indonesia Corruption Watch, said it would file a judicial review on the law.
Febri Hendri of the ICW said the article could be considered to be in conflict with the KPK law that authorized the KPK's wiretapping. (hdt)
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