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Supreme Court of Indonesia

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Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia
Insignia of the Supreme Court
Map
EstablishedAugust 18, 1945
LocationJakarta
Composition methodNominated by the Judicial Commission with DPR confirmation and Presidential appointment.
Authorised byConstitution of Indonesia
Number of positionsMax. 60
Websitewww.mahkamahagung.go.id
Chief Justice of the Republic of Indonesia
CurrentlyM. Hatta Ali
Since1 March 2012
This article is part of a series on the
Politics of
Indonesia
National government
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary

  • Chairman Amzulian Rifai
Political parties
Foreign relations

The Supreme Court of Indonesia (Indonesian: Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia) is the independent judicial arm of the state. It maintains a system of courts and sits above the other courts and is the final court of appeal. It can also reexamine cases if new evidence emerges.

Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court is independent as of the third amendment to the Constitution of Indonesia. The Supreme Court has oversight over the high courts (Pengadilan Tinggi) of which there are about 20 throughout Indonesia and district courts (Pengadilan Negeri) of which there are around 250 with additional district courts being created from time to time.[1] The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal following appeals from the district courts to the high courts. The Supreme Court can also reexamine cases if sufficient new evidence is found.[2][3] Constitutional matters, however, fall within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, established in 2003.

Justices

According to the Constitution, candidates for Supreme Court Justices must have integrity and be of good character as well as be experienced in law.[4] Candidates are proposed to the House of Representatives by the Judicial Commission.[5] If the House of Representatives approves them, their appointment is then confirmed by the president. As of mid 2011, there was a total of 804 courts of various kinds in Indonesia.[6] About 50 justices sat in the Supreme Court while other high and lower courts across Indonesia employed around 7,000 judges.[7]

The Indonesian Supreme Court building in Jakarta

Chief justice

The chief justice and his or her deputy is elected by the Supreme Court justices from among the members of the court.[8] Sometimes the process is controversial and attracts public criticism.[9] For example, in early 2012 rumors about vote buying were reported in the Jakarta press as speculation mounted about the arrangements underway for the selection of new chief justice to replace Harifin A. Tumpa (due to retire as chief justice in March 2012). There was said to be "all-out competition" for the post of chief justice because of the influence that the position holds and it was rumored that the competition might include payments.[10] In the election held on 8 February 2012, M. Hatta Ali comfortably won the position of chief justice ahead of four other candidates.[11] He was sworn in as chief justice by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 1 March 2012.

Conduct of court business

Like most of the Indonesian legal system, the Supreme Court is badly overloaded with demands on resources. One observer has noted that "the Supreme Court is drowning in an increasing flood of new cases each year".[12] In 2010, for example, there were reportedly more than 22,000 cases before the court of which the court managed to rule on less than 14,000.[13] Partly in response to pressures of this kind, proposals for reform of the way that court business is conducted have been under consideration for some time. Current proposals (2011) indicate that a new chamber structure will be introduced to try to improve the operations of the court. The plan is to introduce a system of five chambers which will deal with criminal, civil, religious, administrative, and military affairs. However, the changes are controversial so further reforms may be needed in due course.[14]

The funding for the Supreme Court allocated from the national government budget in 2010 was slightly over Rp 6.0 trillion (around $US 700 million at the prevailing foreign exchange rate).[15]

One significant problem for the Indonesian legal system overall (although less so for the Supreme Court itself) is that most Indonesian judges in lower courts are lowly paid. The official base salary of a judge, before some additional allowances, is often below $US 300 per month. As a result, some judges are tempted to accept payments in the course of their duties. The low salaries paid to judges have been a source of much attention in Indonesia recently with judges urging the government and parliament to tackle the issue.[16] Inevitably, poor performance and difficulties in lower courts leads to problems for the Supreme Court in the efforts by the Court to establish legal standards across the country.

Enforcement of rulings

One common criticism of the legal system in Indonesia is that law enforcement is weak. Even when the law is clear, and even when courts issue clear rulings, enforcement is often weak. In recent years, this criticism has often been made of the operations of the Supreme Court in Indonesia as well of the operations of other parts of the Indonesian legal system. The issue is, in principle, a serious matter for the Supreme Court because enforcement of the rulings of the Supreme Court sets standards for the enforcement of rulings across much of the rest of the Indonesian legal system.

The central problem appears to be that the institutions and mechanisms for enforcement of the legal system, including the decisions of the Supreme Court, are underfunded and are operationally weak. There are thus numerous instances of long delays in the enforcement of the decisions of the Supreme Court.[17] As just one example, in a well publicised case, one of Indonesia's leading universities, the Bogor Agricultural Institute, was instructed by the Supreme Court to release certain details of controversial research conducted within the institute relating to the testing of formula milk brands on sale in Indonesia. However following the Supreme Court ruling, the institute failed to comply and even failed to pay a trivial fee (around $230) incurred as a result of certain proceedings during the conduct of the case.[18] Numerous other cases of delays are regularly reported in the Indonesian media and are commented on by lawyers who have won cases in the Supreme Court.

Notes

  1. ^ In late 2011, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Harifin A. Tumpa, said that the Indonesian government could only aim to establish district courts in 400 of the nation's 530 provinces, regencies (kabupaten) and municipalities (kotamadya).
  2. ^ Indrayana (2008), p. 450
  3. ^ Tabalujan (2002)
  4. ^ In practice, other qualifications are required as well. In 2011 the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Judge Harifin Tumpa, issued a circular stating that any judges who intended to apply for the position of Supreme Court judge needed to have 20 years experience at the district court level and three years experience at the high court level. '111 judges apply for Supreme Court', The Jakarta Post, 5 January 2012.
  5. ^ For a report on the process of the selection of six new judges to the Supreme Court in 2011, see Ina Parlina, KY recommends 18 'quality' justice candidates to House', The Jakarta Post, 2 August 2011.
  6. ^ Sebastiaan Pompe, 'The Judge S case why court oversight fails', The Jakarta Post, 13 June 2011.
  7. ^ Ina Parlina, 'Judicial Commission finds justices an elusive lot', The Jakarta Post, 16 July 2011. According to a recent Supreme Court annual report, Indonesia now (2011) has 3,927 general court judges, 3,619 religious court judges, 320 state administrative court judges, and 95 military judges. 'Better standard needed to perform high profile duty', The Jakarta Post, 26 April 2012.
  8. ^ Indrayana (2008), pp. 450–451
  9. ^ Markus Junianto Sihaloho and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, 'Critics Slam Harifin's Rise to Chief Justice', The Jakarta Globe, 16 January 2009.
  10. ^ Ina Parlina, 'Court election plagued with money politics', The Jakarta Post, 7 February 2012.
  11. ^ Ina Parlina and Dicky Christanto, 'High hopes for new justice', The Jakarta Post, 9 February 2012.
  12. ^ Sebastiaan Pompe, ''Setengah matang': The new face of the Supreme Court', The Jakarta Post, 19 September 2011.
  13. ^ Ina Parlina, 'Supreme Court plans a new five-chamber system', The Jakarta Post, 2 August 2011.
  14. ^ Sebastiaan Pompe, ''Setengah matang': The new face of the Supreme Court', The Jakarta Post, 19 September 2011.
  15. ^ Data are from official budget figures issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Finance.
  16. ^ Hasyim Widhiarto, 'Judges strive to uphold dignity despite low pay', The Jakarta Post, 26 April 2012. See also Hasyim Widhiarto, 'Training judges to avoid corruption', and 'Better standard needed to perform high profile duty', both in The Jakarta Post, 26 April 2012.
  17. ^ Ina Parlina, 'When Supreme Court is ignored, citizens lose access to justice', The Jakarta Post, 8 September 2011.
  18. ^ Bruce Gale, 'Sour Taste of Tainted Milk Controversy', The Jakarta Globe, 1 July 2011, See also Ina Parlina, op cit.

References

  • Indrayana, Denny (2008). Indonesian Constitutional Reform 1999–2002: An Evaluation of Constitution-Making in Transition. Jakarta: Kompas Book Publishing. ISBN 978-979-709-394-5.
  • Pompe, Sebastiaan (2005). The Indonesian Supreme Court: A Study of Institutional Collapse. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Southeast Asia Program. ISBN 978-0-87727-739-2.
  • Tabalujan, Benny S. (2 December 2002). "The Indonesian Legal System: An Overview". LLRX.com. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
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