Heru Andriyanto – The Supreme Court has questioned a female judge for allegedly instigating a protest movement on Facebook to demand a pay rise and better facilities for judges, bringing into the spotlight the question of whether justices are paid enough.

Andy Nurvita, a district court judge in Salatiga, Central Java, was grilled last week at the top court over reports that she planned a major rally involving judges across the country, a Supreme Court spokesman said.

She was also said to have championed a Facebook group accommodating input and complaints from hundreds of fellow judges about their salaries and red tape. The proposed rally has sparked controversy among judges, while experts differ on whether they actually deserve higher pay.

Judges are classified as "state governing officials" at the top of the hierarchy of civil servants, together with ministers, governors and mayors, but their main salaries don't differ much from many lower-level civil servants.

The basic monthly salary of judges is set at between Rp 1.8 million and Rp 4.5 million ($210-$520) in a 2007 government regulation. The lowest figure roughly equals the basic salary of those in the bottom rungs of the civil servant hierarchy. The judges' salary has remained unchanged in the past four years.

But in May 2008 the president approved a bonus system that provides additional payment of between Rp 4.2 million and Rp 13 million for judges in the district and high courts, the military courts and the religious courts. But those judges say they have only received 70 percent of the bonus, which is paid quarterly.

"I am also of the opinion that the welfare of the judges is not getting serious attention from the state," senior judge Artha Theresia said in a telephone interview with the Jakarta Globe on Friday. "Judges are expected to be clean officials, work professionally and independently and be immune from graft. But those demands aren't accompanied by concrete policies to improve our welfare."

Artha, now the deputy head of the Pangkal Pinang District Court in Bangka Belitung, however, said the bonus program did make sure judges were paid more than most other civil servants. Artha also said she opposed the planned rally, which she called "absolutely inappropriate."

"We are judges, so in no way can we take to the street to protest the government. We must choose more elegant ways to convey our aspirations, like writing a letter to the Supreme Court as in our successful motion to win the [bonus program]," said Artha. "Our job is to enforce the law, not to disturb public order," the judge added.

On Facebook, one judge drafted a petition that included rejection of "debatable salary cuts" by the Supreme Court, such as mandatory donation of Rp 2.5 million per judge for the construction of a mosque at the top court building, Rp 1 million for the Indonesian Judges' Association (Ikahi) building and Rp 25,000 for an internal tennis competition.

Some say judges deserve a decent salary because of their demanding profession.

In recent years, judges have made decisions in high-risk cases involving terrorism, drug trafficking and gang fights. But also a seemingly harmless divorce hearing can prove dangerous. Judge Ahmad Taufik was stabbed to death by a marine who also killed his ex-wife in the same courtroom in September 2005.

However, judges also make headlines over their unethical conduct, such as taking bribes.

Cases of corruption, said Boyamin Saiman, chairman of the nongovernmental Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (Maki), "show that our judges do not deserve a salary hike right now. Besides, they are among the highest-paid civil servants."

But Soekotjo Soeparto, a former senior member of the government's court watchdog, the Judicial Commission, said judges' salaries did not "reflect the responsibility and the risks they must take."

"Low payment will only make our judges prone to accepting bribes," he said. "Judges handle civil cases worth billions of rupiah and in business disputes it's no secret that money talks. We must protect our judges by, among other ways, raising their salaries."

Soekotjo said the government so far could only pay 70 percent of the bonus program due to financial constraints. "I do hope all judges will receive 100 percent soon, although it's quite burdensome to the state budget because we're talking about 7,000 judges," he said. "But they deserve full payment."