M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is expected to make simultaneous amendments to three laws on the judiciary to restore the authority of the now-powerless Judicial Commission.
The chairman of the House legislation body (Baleg), Bomer Pasaribu, said Wednesday that the three regulations were the Supreme Court Law, the Constitutional Court Law and the Judicial Commission Law.
"We expect to start the amendment on the three laws to reduce future conflicts between the three institutions," Bomer, a lawmaker from the Golkar party, told The Jakarta Post.
Bomer reiterated the House's stance that amending the Judicial Commission Law will be a priority in the 2006-2007 session. "Although amendment of the law is not part of the House national legislation program for this year, we will try hard to include it as we consider it urgent," Bomer said.
Bomer said Baleg could propose any law or amendment at any time if it is urgent to the national interest. He said the amendments would be designed to minimize the ambiguity that plagued the Judicial Commission Law.
The Constitutional Court recently stripped the Judicial Commission of its oversight role. The panel of judges concluded that the law establishing the commission did not clearly state what the body would monitor. They also ruled that the Judicial Commission had no authority to monitor the conduct and behavior of Constitutional Court judges.
The case was brought by 31 Supreme Court judges who sought to reduce the authority of the newly-formed commission. In their complaint, the Supreme Court judges argued the Judicial Commission had overreached, because the Judicial Commission Law said nothing about its role in overseeing Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judges. They pointed to an article in the State Constitution which did not clearly state which judges would be subject to oversight.
The Judicial Commission itself has prepared a draft amendment to the law to present to the House. Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas said the draft included language to restore Constitutional Court judges to the commission's scrutiny.
Legal expert and former lawmaker J.E. Sahetapy has said a regulation in lieu of law should be issued to fill the void left by the Constitutional Court verdict.
House Commission III on law and legislation said it would meet with members of the Judicial Commission on Sept. 5. Deputy chairman of Commission III Juhad Mahja said that based on the meeting, the House would decide whether an amendment or a regulation in lieu of law would be the best and quickest solution to the problem. "Otherwise, those judges will become uncontrollable," he said.