M

arking the anniversary of the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) on Wednesday, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo warned state prosecutors against extorting individuals under investigation, a practice that is reportedly rampant but difficult to prove except in a few cases.

The President was apparently not singling out the prosecutors because the AGO is only part of the country'€™s justice system, which according to various studies is rife with corrupt practices. The recent arrest of prominent lawyer Otto Cornelis Kaligis, his aide and three North Sumatra State Administrative Court judges in Medan for alleged bribery all but substantiates the long-standing perception that justice can be bought here.

Thanks to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the public has seen state prosecutors, police officers, judges, court clerks and lawyers stand trial and be convicted of accepting and providing bribes '€” trials which in the past were rare, if not absent. When those professionals who deal with the law collaborate to undermine justice, they form a mafia-like mechanism that provides them not only with wealth but also protection.

The administration of then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono established in 2009 a task force assigned with fighting the judicial mafia following the arrest of tax officer Gayus Tambunan, who had managed to evade the law thanks to bribes he paid to people responsible for upholding justice. After two years, the task force, which answered directly to the President, was dissolved although its duties were taken over by the presidential delivery unit.

Credit should go to the task force, whose former secretary Denny Indrayana is ironically under police investigation for corruption allegedly committed when he served as deputy law and human rights minister; but repeated arrests of law enforcers and judges for bribery prove that the judicial mafia continues to exist. That Jokowi reminded the National Police of eradicating the judicial mafia during the force'€™s anniversary on July 1 indicates that the problem is far from resolved. The mafia has perhaps expanded and strengthened its network, as the Medan arrest indicated.

Both the AGO and National Police have rivaled the KPK in combating graft recently as part of their bid to restore credibility. But because the judicial mafia is operating from within, there is no other option for the two law enforcement institutions but to clean themselves up and weed out corrupt personnel. The reason why internal reform initiated by the Supreme Court remains unable to prevent judges from committing corruption is because the judiciary, the third pillar of democracy, has refused to accept external supervision.

The KPK has so far played a watchdog role for the three institutions, but its lack of personnel and vulnerability to attacks '€” as in the three episodes of '€œcrocodile vs. gecko'€ standoffs against the police '€” have prevented it from doing more.

In the past the AGO, the National Police, the Supreme Court and the Law and Human Rights Ministry set up a forum to synchronize efforts to create an efficient and simple judiciary. With greater public access, such mechanisms could be revived to beat the judicial mafia.