Judicial Commission candidates need clean track records to prevent graft

Judicial Commission candidates have to possess clean track records, good morals and ethics and professional integrity, as well as good knowledge and understanding of the Indonesian law and the judicial system in order to prevent judicial corruption.

The selection committee has officially opened candidacy registration for seven posts in the 2010-2015 Judicial Commission from May 17 to June 18, 2010.

“The critical problem in our judicial system is corruption, therefore the members have to completely understand the factual judicial system,” a former judge for the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, Maruarar Siahaan, said. He added that ethics and morals were also important to keep them from falling into the corruption trap.

Asep Iwan Irawan, an academic and a former judge, asked the selection committee to check the candidates’ wealth and families.

“Check their wealth, where they live, their family conditions, their education, their children’s educations, their opinions and idealism, and their consistency in deciding and taking a stand on something, as well as their activities after they retired from judicial service,” Asep said.

Judhi Kristanti, a human resources consultant, said that the committee had to assess actual candidate profiles and to review the track records of each candidate and verify them.

It was also important to try to predict candidates’ potential decisions and project how they would work in extreme conditions in order to prevent judicial corruption, Judhi added.

The committee will choose 14 names and then propose them to the president. The list eventually will be sent to the House of Representatives where the legislators will choose seven final names to sit as members of the commission. (ipa)