Supreme Court Chief Justice HM Syarifuddin was quick to pledge to step up the fight against graft. Few people, however, are likely take Syarifuddin’s promise seriously because he was simply stating the obvious, some might even laugh at it. Public officials often parrot this line when their institutions are embroiled in a graft case but afterward it is business as usual.

In his year-end press conference on Jan. 3, Syarifuddin tried to convince the nation he would seek every path to ensure that the arrest of two justices and 12 court officials by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) would be the last to shroud the country’s foremost bastion of justice.

Syarifuddin believes the two justices were the only bad apples among the 50 serving justices. He also insisted the scandals would not affect the court’s performance.

“Although the arrest of two justices and some Supreme Court officials shocked us, I guarantee the court’s ability to settle cases won’t be affected at all,” said Syarifuddin.

Throughout 2022 the Supreme Court penalized 146 judges and ad hoc judges for breaking the code of ethics. As of December 2022, the court had settled a record 99.47 percent of 28,522 appeal motions, up from the previous year’s mark of 47.57 percent.

But you may be curious as to how many cases were settled with justice served, and how many were the results of bribery or outside intervention.

KPK investigators arrested justice Sudradjad Dimyati in September last year for allegedly accepting Rp 800 million (US$ 51,282) from a total of S$202,000 ($141,266) and Rp 2.2 billion provided by two businessmen. The KPK also arrested nine court officials in connection with the case.

Two months later, the KPK named justice Gazalba Saleh a new suspect in the same case. It remains unknown how much Gazalba is alleged to have received. The two are scheduled to stand trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court soon.

On Dec. 19, 2022 the KPK declared senior Supreme Court official Edy Wibowo a suspect for accepting Rp 3.7 billion in bribes in return for a Supreme Court appellate ruling favoring Sandi Karsa Makassar Hospital, South Sulawesi. Edy was the 14th Supreme Court official to be named a suspect in the case.

Bribery is publicly perceived as one of the most effective methods of winning a legal case in this country. District and higher courts may not rule in your favor despite all measures you have taken (if you know what I mean), but do not give up because there is the Supreme Court ready to help you turn the tables.

Do you want to know how to win a judge’s favor either in a criminal or civil case? Just talk to lawyers. You may pretend that you are a potential client who is naïve but has a lot of money. Excellent and reputable lawyers will tell you all the legal steps you should take.

In conversations with several lawyers (hopefully they were not serious), I concluded that comprehensive knowledge about Indonesian law and skills to convince the judge are often not enough. So, they may offer you another way to help you win or at least partially win your case. Reports say money talks louder.

Do not forget the role of the police and the state prosecutors. Some lawyers (hopefully very few) reportedly suggest their clients “take care of” the police, prosecutors, and judges. They are an inseparable package.

The judicial mafia will continue to undermine the rule of law, unless the nation has the courage to take revolutionary action to clean up the messy justice system. Since the end of Soeharto’s 32-year dictatorship Indonesia has reformed the executive and legislative branches of government. 

The judicial branch, however, remains practically untouchable despite the establishment of the Judicial Commission to oversee the courts. The commission was designed as a toothless body in the first place because it has no power to execute its findings. The Supreme Court has been very reluctant to collaborate with the commission because judges insist that they answer only to God.

The Supreme Court prides itself as the last bastion of truth and justice. But the arrest of two justices and a dozen court clerks for accepting bribes only verifies the public perception that money matters in obtaining justice.

The Constitutional Court, the other judicial power that guards the Constitution, is no different. In July 2014, the Jakarta Corruption Court issued a historic verdict by sentencing former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar to life imprisonment for accepting bribes from several regional head candidates in exchange for favorable decisions on election disputes.

In September 2017, the same court sentenced former Constitutional Court justice Patrialis Akbar to eight years in prison after he was found guilty of accepting $70, 000 in bribes from a beef importer in connection with a judicial review of the 2014 Animal Husbandry and Livestock Law. The Supreme Court later reduced his sentence to seven years.

The Supreme Court’s vision and mission are noble and perfect. It envisions “realizing Indonesia’s noble judiciary”. Its mission is to preserve judicial independence, provide just legal service to justice seekers, enhance the quality of judicial leadership and to step up judicial credibility and transparency.

Does the Supreme Court’s promise to act as the last true bastion of truth and justice impress you? If you ask me, my answer would be simple: Hahaha.

 ***

The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post. 

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