T

he Judicial Commission (KY) has found that many judges were dishonest in exercising their judgments and fell short of applying strict court procedures.

The KY said in its year-end review that “intellectual dishonesty” had led to partiality in judicial decisions.

“We found, from the rulings, judges rule out facts in their considerations,” KY commissioner Ibrahim told a press briefing on Thursday.

Ibrahim said that during a recent hearing on a judge who was alleged to have breached the code of ethics, the KY found the judge ruled out testimony from an expert witness.

The commission also found that between 70 and 80 percent of judges in the country had fallen short of applying strict judicial processes, including by taking into consideration only two pieces of legitimate evidence.

“They are concerned with procedural justice rather than substantive justice. The doctrine [they are using] is the due process of law, instead of the total justice approach,” he said.

Ibrahim said that some of the judges were only preoccupied with providing legal certainty. “This is not wrong, but it’s not total justice. A judge must hear and consider everything.”

In its year-end report, the KY revealed that between January and Dec. 15, it received 1,482 complaints from the public, down from 1,710 in 2011.

This year, the commission launched a probe of 160 judges over alleged ethics violations and handed down punishments to 20 judges.

Three judges were dismissed after hearings convened by the Judicial Ethics Council — consisting of KY members and Supreme Court justices — found ethical breeches and violations of the judges’ code of conduct.

A total of five judges were brought before ethics tribunals in 2012.

The KY investigated 81 judges for possible impropriety in 2011.

Based on its findings, the commission recommended the Supreme Court to sanction 15 judges and to dismiss one judge.

The commission said that the increasing numbers of judges being punished showed that all parties — the commission, the Supreme Court and the public — had been striving improve the quality of the judiciary.

“This shows that there is a significant public support to monitor the judiciary,” KY deputy chairman Imam Anshori Saleh said. The commission, Imam added, would continue pushing for better case management in all levels of courts across the country to improve the quality of the judiciary.

Commission spokesman Asep Rahmat Fajar added that the increasing number of judges examined by the commission showed that “the commission performed better this year than last year.”

Imam also commended efforts to amend the Judicial Commission Law, which was endorsed in late 2011, as it had given the KY more authority to monitor the nearly 8,300 judges in Indonesia.