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AKARTA: The Judicial Commission says that quality concerns may mean it will select less than 30 candidates for 10 vacant Supreme Court justice positions.

The Supreme Court previously asked the commission to choose 30 candidates to be forwarded to the House of Representatives, which would appoint 10 justices based on the commission’s recommendations.

“We select justice candidates based on their quality and integrity, regardless of the Supreme Court’s request for 30 candidates,” commission spokesperson Asep Rahmat Fajar told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

“There might be a chance that we select less than 30. Of course it will be more than 10.”

The commission and several experts completed interviews of 43 candidates on Thursday, completing the final series of candidate tests.

The candidates include Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Gayus Lumbuun; sister of the Corruption Eradication Commission chair Busyro Muqoddas, Djazimah Muqoddas; ad hoc Corruption Court judge Dudu Duswara; the Supreme Court’s general court unit director, Cicut Sutiarso; and Supreme Court secretary M. Rum Nessa.

Judicial watchdog groups slammed several candidates. The Court Monitoring Coalition (KPP), for example, called into question the track records of Cicut and Rum, alleging that both candidates were implicated in bribery charges related to cases under their jurisdiction.

Asep added that the commission would be ready with a final list of candidates to be forwarded to the House of Representatives in early August.

The 10 justices that will be selected by legislators will join an around 50 justices currently assigned to the court.