Tony Hotland and Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The government will prepare new legislation mandating the Corruption Court after it was declared unconstitutional on Tuesday by the Constitutional Court, a presidential aide said Wednesday.

Presidential antigraft expert Sardan Marbun said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told him the government would consult with the House of Representatives on the issue.

The House is currently in recess for three weeks until Jan. 7. House Speaker Agung Laksono confirmed a plan to meet with the President early next month.

The Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday the Corruption Court was unconstitutional and must disband because it was set up under the 2002 law that also established the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The court however gave the government a grace period of three years from Tuesday to comply with the law.

Sardan did not know what form the new law would take. "Three years is still quite a long time. But let me assure you that the verdict means nothing to the government's antigraft campaign and is not a problem at all," he said.

Senior lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution urged the government to immediately issue a government regulation in lieu of law to legalize the existing Corruption Court.

"We can't wait for three years. I recommend the government issue a regulation in lieu of a law on Corruption Court. This is an emergency situation," he said after meeting KPK officials Wednesday.

Buyung said the Constitutional Court's ruling was anomalous. "How can an unconstitutional court be given time to exist for another three years?" he said. "Not only is the ruling incoherent, but its substance is also conflicting," he added. He said the work of the KPK would be ruined if it could not prosecute suspects in the court.

Constitutional Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie welcomed Buyung's proposal. "It is good. Sooner is better," he said.

National Resilience Institute Governor Muladi said a new regulation should be enacted immediately to facilitate the transfers of cases currently being tried by the Corruption Court or investigated by the KPK to the general courts. "The Corruption Court must disband now. It can no longer function because it is unconstitutional," Muladi said.

Lawyer Mohammad Assegaf, who has had clients tried and convicted by the Corruption Court, said the Supreme Court could take over cases being handled by the Corruption Court. "The Supreme Court can freeze the Corruption Court and transfer its cases to general courts," he said.

He said verdicts handed down by the Corruption Court could be protested and deemed illegal as the court and its judges were unconstitutional.

KPK deputy chief Tumpak Hatorangan said the KPK did not have any plan to propose the issuance of such a government regulation in lieu of law. "It's only a discourse initiated by legal experts," he said.

Indonesia Corruption Watch director Teten Masduki said the verdict against the Corruption Court was handed down in favor of graft criminals, and could be used as a loophole for the Supreme Court to interfere in graft cases.

"With many lawmakers being resistant to anti-graft efforts, there's a chance that any new legal basis for the Corruption Court will never enacted at all. Even if there is one, I'm sure its powers will be curtailed," he said.