M

. Hatta Ali won the election to be the next chief justice of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, pledging to improve the integrity of the nation’s highest court.

“Currently, the court is implementing some of its most monumental programs. I am determined to maintain them, because it is the first time that the court has established a five-chamber system,” Hatta said after winning 24 out of 54 votes cast by his fellow justices to secure victory.

Hatta referred to a system introduced by incumbent chief justice Harifin A. Tumpa in August that established criminal, civil, religious, administrative and military high courts.

The next chief justice pledged to resolve the court’s current backlog.

Hatta, a native of Makassar, South Sulawesi, will replace Harifin on March 1, when the latter is expected to retire.

Harifin said that Hatta won the vote in a “democratic and collegial fashion”.

“I hope there won’t be any debate about his leadership,” Harifin said.

Hatta’s strongest rival in the race, Ahmad Kamil, garnered only 15 votes, while Abdul Kadir received four votes, M. Saleh won three votes and Paulus E. Lotulung took a single vote.

Harifin said he expected Hatta would resolve some major items on the court’s docket, including a case review Harifin himself promised to resolve by mid-February: the appeal filed by former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Antasari Azhar, who was convicted of murder in 2010.

Supreme Court watchers congratulated Hatta on his win, saying that he would face a tremendous challenge in reforming the Supreme Court, deemed one of the most corrupt institutions in the nation.

Asep Rahmat Fajar from the Judicial Commission said that Hatta should start by improving the court system.

“We look forward to seeing an improvement in the Supreme Court under his leadership. We also hope his leadership can improve the relationship between our commission and the Supreme Court in safeguarding the judiciary,” Asep said.

The two institutions have been at loggerheads since the Judicial Commission was established in 2005 with overlapping authority to monitor the nation’s judiciary.

The Constitutional Court struck down sections of the Judicial Commission Law in 2006, removing the Judicial Commission’s power to investigate judges.

Former Supreme Court justice Asep Iwan Iriawan said the onus was now on Hatta to reform the institution.

“Hatta must be able to make a breakthrough from within the system.”

Asep Iwan said that Hatta had to focus on “bad jurists” immediately and reform the court’s mechanism for promoting and rotating Supreme Court justices and district court judges. “The chief justice has great influence to pick his favorites,” he said.

Hatta, a career judge, was appointed to the Supreme Court in August 2007.

As a district court judge and Supreme Court justice, Hatta has handled several high-profile cases.

In January 2003, Hatta sentenced a Dutch citizen to death for running an ecstasy factory in Tangerang, Banten.

Earlier this year, Hatta rejected an appeal filed by a British national convicted of drug possession, sentencing him to 20 years’ imprisonment.

Hatta has also been involved in contentious decisions. As part of a panel of justices in April 2010, Hatta upheld reducing the custodial sentence of businesswoman Artalyta Suryani by six months — only three months after the Judicial Mafia Task Force revealed she was enjoying luxurious accommodations while in prison.

In a wealth report submitted in 2006, Hatta said he owned property worth Rp 1.47 billion (US$116,000), while reporting wealth of Rp 2.72 billion in 2010, including $28,000 in cash.

Asep Rahmat said a Supreme Court justice earned Rp 30 million a month.

“It means that he could get Rp 360 million a year and in four years it will be around Rp 1.4 billion,” he said.

The next chief justice might supplement his income by Rp 10 million a month through speaking engagements, he added.

“I think it is normal for a justice like him to have what he has now,” Asep Rahmat said.

Chairul Imam, a former chief prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office’s special crimes division, said he was pessimistic that Hatta could do much to bolster the court’s performance.

“I don’t think he could improve the system of judicial recruitment. I don’t see any serious changes or improvements that have been made up until now,” he said. (rpt)