Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa has defended his judges’ recent rulings as strong criticism of legal cases settled out of court, and “people power” influencing verdicts, has led to low public trust in the judiciary.
Instead of calling for total reform within the country’s allegedly corrupt legal system in response to the trends, the chief justice said here Tuesday that people power and the trend of settling legal problems out of court was a threat to the supremacy of law.
“There is tendency to settle legal problems outside of the legal framework. This is a threat to the supremacy of law. We can’t allow this,” Harifin told Antara state news agency on Tuesday.
He cited a series of recent protests staged to influence legal enforcers, saying he wondered whether people wanted crimes to be committed without due recourse.
Cases that recently triggered massive protests from the public include the case of housewife Prita Mulyasari against Omni International Hospital, which caused her to spend 21 days in jail prior to the trial.
Many said that only massive support from the public and media could influence the court to rule
in her favor, while in a prior civil suit she lost to the hospital because the public was attracted to another issues.
Aside from Prita, the public was also angered by the case of Minah, the elderly woman tried for stealing three cacao pods worth 15 US cents. She was later convicted and given the option of serving 45 days in jail or three months probation.
“We cannot lose sight of legal principles, and I hope all judicial officers and judges uphold justice without being influenced by public pressure,” Harifin said.
Constitutional Court Justice Mahfud M.D. shared a different view saying judges did not only have to follow formal procedures, but must also dig into the substantial values of justice.
“First of all, like it or not, law is a result of a political agreement so it can be right, but it also can be wrong, depending on the dominant political power [at the time the law is made],” Mahfud said.
Secondly, he went on, law is supposed to adapt to dynamic situations within society and thirdly, law can be wrong because lawmakers do not always have expertise in the legal issues they are dealing with.
Hasril Hertanto, from the University of Indonesia’s Indonesian Court Monitoring Society (MAPPI), shared a similar view with Mahfud saying the phenomenon of people power in legal matters was a reflection of the law failing to guarantee justice for all.
“Law is made to guarantee justice for the people, but the current condition proves the law is yet to function optimally,” he said.
Hasril also saw this condition was a result of insensitivity of law enforcers toward people’s sense of justice.
“In this kind of situation judges hold central roles as they must balance legal certainty and a sense of justice,” he said.
Unfortunately, he said, many judges were suspected of receiving bribes.
The Judicial commission recently revealed that it planned to summon 62 troubled judges, including senior justice Djoko Sarwoko, in relation to bribery allegations.
