T

he Judicial Commission (KY) backed on Monday a move by the Constitutional Court (MK) to push President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo not to involve two top lawyers in a committee established by the government to conduct the selection process to appoint a new court justice.

The court has sent a letter objecting to the membership of state administrative law expert Refly Harun and prominent lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis '€” who have represented clients in cases heard by the court'€” to ensure the objectivity of the selection committee.

The committee, which consists of seven legal experts, was established by Jokowi to find a new Constitutional Court justice to replace court chief Hamdan Zoelva, whose tenure ends in January.

'€œIt does not mean that these individual lawyers are not independent, but not to involve them in the process could prevent a conflict of interest in the future,'€ Taufiqurrohman Syahuri, a commissioner for judicial recruitment, said on Monday.

The commission had earlier appreciated the government'€™s effort to conduct a transparent selection mechanism by setting up the committee.

Taufiqurrohman said the commission, the task of which is to oversee the Supreme Court'€™s justices, never involved lawyers in such selection processes.

The commissioner, however, suggested that such a concern was supposed to be raised by the court'€™s ethics panel instead.

'€œWe understand the concern but it is not appropriate. It is supposed to be the [court'€™s] ethics panel that voices such a concern as it monitors the court,'€ he said.

The Constitution states the court must have nine justices, with the House of Representatives, the president and the Supreme Court each entitled to appoint three justices to serve five-year tenures.

The 2011 Constitutional Court Law stipulates the nomination of justice candidates should be conducted transparently and with public participation.

Other than Refly and Todung, other individuals appointed to the team are state administrative law professor Saldi Isra, former Constitutional Court justices Maruarar Siahaan and Harjono, and legal experts Satya Arinanto and Widodo Ekatjahjana.

Refly is also known as a whistle-blower in the court. In 2010, he revealed that former justice Arsyad Sanusi was involved in attempted bribery related to a case heard by the court, prompting Arsyad to resign, although an independent ethics panel found no evidence of the bribery.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) deputy secretary general Ahmad Basarah slammed the court as being arrogant and suspected the letter for Jokowi was to protect Hamdan'€™s political interests.

'€œThe objection letter is a result of Hamdan Zoelva'€™s political interests. There'€™s an impression that Hamdan wants the selection committee to be filled by people who support him,'€ Basarah said.