T

he Judicial Commission announced on Friday that 11 of 26 candidates had passed the profile assessment held recently and were qualified to join the next selection for justices at the Supreme Court.

The commission is expected to interview the 11 candidates between July 10 and 12, before the commission submits the final list to the House of Representatives for confirmation hearings in August. There are currently 10 empty justice slots.

'€œTo approve or reject the result is in the hands of the lawmakers. [However] the Judicial Commission will try to come up with arguments and supporting documents to support our decision that they are in fact the best candidates,'€ Taufiqurrohman Syahuri, a commissioner for judicial recruitment, said on Friday.

The commission'€™s job is becoming tougher after facing resistance from the House in February.

At that time, lawmakers rejected all three justice candidates proposed by the commission after the Constitutional Court eliminated lawmakers'€™ role in justice selections. Under the ruling, the House can now only approve or reject candidates on the list, instead of choosing from candidates short-listed by the commission.

Taufiqurrohman said his office would ensure that the candidates selected were '€œthose with integrity, a sense of justice, professionalism and legal skills that are in line with justice requirements'€.

Sudrajad Dimyati, a deputy head of the Pontianak High Court who was cleared of charges of attempting to bribe a House member on the sidelines of a confirmation hearing at the House late last year, is one of candidates on the shortlist.

The other candidates are M. Duma Tandirapak, a lecturer at the Indonesian Christian University of Paulus in Makassar, South Sulawesi; Ahmad Muliadi, a lecturer at the Jayabaya University in Jakarta; and Ansori, a lecturer at Khairun University in Ternate, who is also an ad hoc corruption judge at the North Maluku High Court; Amran Suadi, the deputy head of the Surabaya Religious High Court; James Butar Butar, a Surabaya High Court judge; Muslich Bambang Luqmono, a Jayapura High Court judge; A. Choiri, a Surabaya Religious High Court judge; Is Sudaryono, head of the Medan State Administrative High Court; Purwosusilo, a director general of the religious judiciary unit at the Supreme Court; and Didin Fathuddin, a Jakarta Religious High Court judge.

The commission has set a new condition that candidates can no longer reapply for the job after having failed twice.

A candidate can only reapply after three selections have been held. It also bans career judges from applying through the non-career enrollment track.

Recently, both the commission and the Supreme Court voiced support for a salary hike of up to ten times the current paycheck for justices to avoid the temptation of bribery.

As a comparison, a high court judge receives about Rp 40 million, while a Supreme Court justice receives Rp 33 million per month.