Learning from the ongoing conflict among law enforcing institutions, law experts called on the government and the House of Representatives to make a new law on law enforcement procedures.
"Indonesia should have an integrated criminal justice system, an umbrella for all law enforcement institutions in doing their main tasks," Rudi Satrio Mukantardjo of the University of Indonesia said in a discussion with the Partnership for Governance Reform recently.
"The new system would guide the police, Attorney General's Office and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to communicate and coordinate better in their work."
The proposed law will also regulate a standard operating procedure which the three institutions should comply with when their members were involved in crimes, he added.
The KPK has been involved in a mounting conflict with the police and the AGO in connection with the power abuse and graft charges made by the police against the two suspended KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah.
Backed by the presidential fact-finding team, Bibit and Chandra claimed the cases against them to be fabricated, while the police and prosecutors continued to pursue the cases to trial. This conflict among law enforcing institutions led to negative reactions from the public and the business sector.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was due to announce his next steps today in his response to the team's recommendations.
Former Constitutional Court chief Jimly Assidiqie said a new law on an integrated law enforcement system was really needed because the current legal system was old-fashioned, handled manually and involved "many hands."
The old-fashioned legal system left loopholes whereby law enforcers might play the role of legal wheelers and dealers with alleged opportunities to conspire with suspected criminals, he said.
Jimly called on the government to modernize the old system by installing an Information and Corruption Technology system (ICT) while renewing the legal database.
He said government should restructure the institutions dealing with investigation and prosecution.
"The police and the AGO should coordinate with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, while the police security apparatus should coordinate with the Home Affairs Ministry," he said.
Farouk Muhammad of the Indonesian Institute of Police Science (PTIK) and also a regional representative, concurred and said the police had an extraordinary authority since they were tasked to maintain security and public order and simultaneously to arrest criminals and investigate them.
"The police has formulated its own policies, implemented them and supervised themselves while the government could not separate their functions as a regulator, executive wing and supervisor," he said.
