Andreas D. Arditya, Jakarta – The revised Corruption Court bill is likely to trigger intense debate during its deliberation, with many experts and activists saying its contents could undermine the fight against graft.

The most contentious issue is the government's proposal to allow district court chief judges to determine the composition of the panel of judges.

Under the existing law, any panel hearing a corruption case must consist of two career judges and three ad hoc judges. This ratio was prompted by public distrust in career judges and the judiciary, which has long been associated with a "court mafia".

The draft bill states the Corruption Court will have to be established in 450 district courts across the country, thus putting an end to the current ad hoc Corruption Court.

But the bill shows the government is seeking to gain greater control over the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), according to Benny K. Harman, a lawmaker from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives' Commission III on legal affairs.

"There is a certain fear about the KPK because of its tremendous work against corruption. The proposal will surely lead to as many ad hoc judges as possible being removed from the panel that hears corruption cases, thus weakening the KPK's position," he said Sunday.

To date, the Corruption Court has convicted all suspects brought to trial by the KPK. "In fact, we need more ad hoc judges," Soeripto of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said. "The public is there to evaluate them. They know which courts are transparent and which are not."

Critics and anti-corruption activists said the government's revised draft was premature, because the district court chief judges were not ready to assume authority for forming a panel of judges to hear corruption cases as they were themselves recruited and appointed under a corrupt system.

Among those supporting the bill is Gayus Lumbuun, a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who said the bill had been drafted in accordance with the judicial system.

"The government is on the right track, because according to the general courts principle, the head of the district court has the authority to appoint the panel of judges," he told The Jakarta Post. Gayus also disagreed that more ad hoc judges should be assigned to hear corruption cases.

"Ad hoc judges lack (judicial) experience, they were not trained to be judges. It is necessary, therefore, to have more career judges," he said.

The House must pass the new Corruption Court bill soon, after the Constitutional Court gave the government until December 2009 to form a new court, finding that the current Corruption Court violated the Constitution because it was established under the 2002 law on the KPK rather than under the law on judicial power.