Bagus BT Saragih – Lawmakers have proposed delegating the supervision of Constitutional Court justices, along with other judges, to the Judicial Commission.

Benny Kabur Harman from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, the chairman of House of Representatives' law and human rights commission, said Friday the bill of the revision of the 2004 Judicial Commission Law did includ this proposal.

"In the future, all judges and justices at any court will be monitored by the Commission," Benny told The Jakarta Post. He added the Constitutional Court's honorary assembly, which played a role as an internal monitoring system, was not powerful enough to prevent justices from committing misconducts.

A member at the House's law and human rights commission member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Eva Kusuma Sundari, echoed Benny's statement. "The Constitutional Court is not a super body. It requires external monitoring just as other law enforcement institutions," she said.

Constitutional Court justice Akil Mochtar said the Judicial Commission's planned authority was welcome as long as it did not intervene with Constitutional Court justices.

He cited a ruling by the Constitutional Court in 2006 that scrapped articles in the Judicial Commission law that gave the Commission the authority to closely watch Constitutional Court justices.

"I suggest that lawmakers read the ruling again, otherwise the new bill will face a judicial review again at the Constitutional Court," he said.

The Constitutional Court has come under fire after bribery and extortion allegations implicating two justices came to light, threatening its reputation as a relatively graft-free institution since it was established in 2003.

Akil and fellow justice Arsyad Sanusi were questioned by the court's honorary assembly over the matter. The assembly declared Arsyad guilty of violating a code of ethics while Akil was cleared of all allegations.