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Bar association to revoke lawyer Todung's license
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 05/17/2008 11:15 AM | Headlines
The Indonesian Advocates Association (Peradi) announced Friday it would permanently revoke the license of noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis for an ethics breach.
The association said Todung has 21 days to appeal the decision.
He was found guilty of conflict of interest when he took Salim Group as a client during a 2006 trial in Bandarlampung, Lampung province, over a legal dispute with Sugar Group Company, a former subsidiary of the Salim Group.
Hotman Paris, the lawyer who reported Todung to Peradi, represented Sugar Group Company at that trial.
In 2002, Todung was appointed by the government to conduct a legal audit of the Salim Group, including Sugar Group Company, which was thereafter acquired by another party.
"Based on its findings, Peradi's disciplinary council has decided to revoke the accused's license because he violated the association's code of ethics, as cited in Article 4(j) on client relations, and Article 3(b) on advocates' ethics.
"The accused has 21 days to submit an appeal," said disciplinary council chairman Jack R. Sidabutar.
Two of the council's five members proposed that Todung's license be revoked for only one year.
Jack said the permanent revocation of a senior lawyer's license was unprecedented in the country.
"The basic consideration for our verdict was his seniority as an advocate in the country.
"We thought he should have mastered advocate ethics, but in fact he violated those ethics.
"We are concerned that he put aside justice and truth as the guiding principle for an advocate, for the sake of material things," Jack said.
Hotman, known for defending major corruption suspects, applauded the verdict.
"I'm satisfied with the ruling as Todung made a big mistake in terms of the ethics of advocates. The ruling says it all," he said.
Todung declared his innocence after the announcement of the decision.
"I am not guilty of this and I am going to submit an appeal with the council within the next 21 days," he said.
Todung called the charges against him a "joke".
"The proof submitted by the plaintiff against me to the disciplinary council was all sourced from court proceedings in Bandarlampung during the 2006 trial for the Sugar Group Company.
"This is all out of context in relation to the ethics council and its authority," the lawyer said. (nkn)
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The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 05/19/2008 - 2:43pm
Dear Editor,
I believe this article omitted some important information that could help readers put the verdict into perspective and raise further questions on the decision.
Please refer to this article, published on 18/05 in Asia Sentinel - Internecine warfare in the courts results in a civil rights leader’s disbarment (http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12...):
"In 2002, Mulya Lubis said, he was asked by the Indonesia Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to audit companies that had been hit by the economic crisis of 1997-1998 and were unable to pay their debts to the government. Under the agreement to represent IBRA, he was not allowed from taking on any practice in conflict with Indonesia’s Department of Finance and IBRA for two years. That time, he said, lapsed in 2004.
However, Hotman Paris Hutapea’s charge, he said, was based on a 2007 civil claim filed against one of the companies he had audited, however. The Department of Finance, he said, was one of the defendants in that case and he was accused of conflict of interest as a party to the case. However, he said, the Department of Finance did not object and in fact issued a letter that there was no conflict."
Thank you for your attention
The Reader (not verified) — Sun, 05/18/2008 - 9:51am
The government cares about ethics???? That is the funniest thing I ever heard in my life!!!! You should just send all the judges and lawyers into prison and you will not be wrong!!! Every single one of them is corrupt beyond your wildest imagination!!!