Jakarta – Despite efforts to reform the judiciary and improve its overall performance, corrupt practices enforced by a "judicial mafia" are here to stay, a discussion was told Wednesday.
"My case has been stuck at the Supreme Court for more than 30 years," Haryanto told the discussion at the Sultan Hotel.
"I don't know what else to do. I won't be giving them the money they have demanded. It's almost impossible to get justice in this country without money," Haryanto said.
The retired civil servant first ran into difficulties with the system in 1974, when a dispute erupted over land he claimed to own. "I bought the land legally but somehow another person claimed to be the real owner," he said.
Believing he had a stronger case against the plaintiff, Haryanto insisted on not using money to win the case.
"I was in a situation where I believed money didn't play any role in judicial processes. I won the case at the district court level, then at the high court all the way to the Supreme Court," he said.
When the defendant filed a judicial review against the verdict in his favor, the situation changed dramatically. "I wasn't officially informed about the judicial review," he said.
"When I asked about my case, they said it was in progress but never explained how or why. Apparently, the Supreme Court only processed cases with money backing them. Therefore, they put my case at the very bottom of the pile for years."
He insisted on not paying bribes for years after that incident, but to this day the ownership issues surrounding the land remain unclear.
Laica Marzuki, a retired justice, said the practice of trading cases in the country's judicial bodies was a reality. "That is no longer a secret. I have some experience with it," he told the audience.
"Clerks, administrative staffs, and even office boys were moonlighting as 'middle men'," he said. "They bridge the judges and the defendants and plaintiffs."
Meanwhile, law expert Abdul Asri Harahap said that corrupt practices in judicial institutions would not go away as long as the system was not reformed. "The current system is awful. Large holes provide ample room for corruption," Asri, also an executive of the Alumni Group of the Association of Islamic Students, said.
If the Supreme Court had clearer rules about the deadlines for handling cases, Asri said, Haryanto's situation would never have developed to where it is today.
"There is no time limit set at each stage of the judiciary inquiry. That frees up the chance to ask for a bribe," he said.
Laica said when he retired from the Supreme Court, there were thousands of unfinished cases still waiting to be processed.
"I admit that our system is still weak," he said. "However, I am optimistic that we can stop the practice of trading cases. Let's give Pak Harifin Tumpa [Chief Justice] a chance to do that." (bbs)