Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The revision of the Supreme Court law allowing justices to stay in office until the age of 70 will obstruct reforms within the country's judicial system, dubbed the most corrupt in Asia, experts and activists are warning.
After less than three weeks of debates, the House of Representatives' working committee on Sunday concluded deliberations on a bill to revise the law, and now plan to table it at a plenary meeting later this month for endorsement.
The current law stipulates Supreme Court judges must retire at the age of 65, but can continue serving in office for another two years.
If the plenary session passes the bill before the House begins its recess period on September 26, chief justice Bagir Manan will be allowed to stay in his current post for another three years.
Bagir was named the Supreme Court chief in 2001, and under the current law, should retire on Oct. 6, 2008.
He sparked controversy when he issued a decree extending his and nine other justices' retirement age by two years in June 2006, claiming there was a backlog of cases.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) said that the Supreme Court, under Bagir's leadership, became embroiled in many problems, including several unclear accounts worth billions of rupiah, and a lack of transparency in court proceeding fees.
"If he stays in office, all the problems will remain unresolved, and we expect there will be no reform for a better system in the next three years," YLBHI chairman Patra M. Zen said.
Bagir was also strongly criticized by the YLBHI and many analysts for his failure to erase the Supreme Court's image as a corrupt institution in Indonesia.
A 2008 survey by Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) ranked the country's Supreme Court as the worst in Asia. Berlin-based Transparency International also lists the Supreme Court among the country's most corrupt institutions, citing a blatant "court mafia" as an example.
"People involved in the court mafia will stay with the same individuals at the helm," Indonesian Transparency Society chairman Hamid Chalid said in a statement.
The YLBHI also expressed concern that the passage of the bill would prevent the Supreme Court from recruiting new justices until 2011.
Currently, there are 48 justices, of whom eight are set to retire in 2008, 10 in 2009 and nine in 2010. "So there will be no regeneration because old justices will continue to rule the system," Patra said.
The Judicial Commission has since last year been selecting candidates for new justices to replace the would-be retirees.
The passage of the revision bill would mean that the selection process, on which a considerable amount of state money has been spent, would be rendered useless.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) alleges bribery was behind the unusually fast deliberation of the bill, and said the extension of the retirement age for justices was politically motivated ahead of the 2009 elections.
"Cases of campaign fund violations, for instance, will be handled by the Supreme Court. We think political parties need to strengthen their bargaining vis-a-vis these justices," Emerson Yuntho of the ICW said.
The ICW, YLBHI and Indonesian Transparency Society demanded the government and the House delay the passage of the bill and instead focus on more urgent issues related to public interests.