Armando Siahaan – The largely toothless National Police's and Public Prosecution Commission's watchdog commissions will be given new powers to conduct joint investigations into their respective institutions, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said on Friday.

The government is currently finalizing a presidential regulation that would beef up the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) and the Public Prosecution Commission, both of which have failed to reform the notorious branches of government.

"In doing its work, Kompolnas will be given the authority to conduct a joint probe with the National Police's internal investigator," Patrialis said. "But Kompolnas cannot investigate them alone, we don't want them to violate the law and the National Police's regulations."

Patrialis said the Public Prosecution Commission would be given the same powers. "Whenever there is an internal probe against AGO officials, the commission can join," Patrialis said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to give the Public Prosecution Commission greater powers, as the body currently has no authority to press charges against prosecutors suspected of wrongdoing or even reporting them to the police.

The commission is limited to giving recommendations to the president and the attorney general. In addition, its funding comes wholly from the AGO.

Amid calls for more effective and respected watchdogs for the country's law enforcement agencies, Yudhoyono, speaking in November, said he was currently pushing for a new law that would make the prosecution commission and the National Police Commission more independent, especially in terms of their budget.

The Public Prosecution Commission was established by virtue of a presidential decree in 2005. However, it has since failed to come out with concrete sanctions against errant prosecutors, despite the numerous scandals that have hit the AGO in recent years.