T

he judicial process in Indonesia is a nightmarish pursuit for justice.

My experience in pursuing justice for my clients in cases involving blatant fraud and theft clearly demonstrates the difficulties, if not impossibility, of getting any justice unless you have a generous '€œfacilitation'€ budget, which may be more than the losses you sustained, as every process from lodging a police report, liaising with the prosecutor and addressing the judges at the district court, followed by the appeal court and then the Supreme Court, as a standard process, all require facilitation.

Parties I know used to say that the inefficiencies in the judicial process encourage fraud and theft as offenders realized very few victims would bother to pursue justice as it would cost them more.

One case I heard involved an employee stealing Rp200 million (US$15,385),knowing it would cost the employer more to pursue justice. Even if the employer did pursue justice, which could take between three and five years, the punishment is barely a year'€™s imprisonment, which to the offender is a blessing as it will take him many more years to achieve such an income. Justice is therefore a double jeopardy to the victim.

IB Saw
Jakarta