Nivell Rayda – At least 20 prominent lawyers declared their support for the Corruption Eradication Commission on Wednesday, saying members of the group were ready to legally challenge any effort to damage the legitimacy of the independent body.

The House of Representatives is currently discussing two key bills surrounding the commission, also known as the KPK. Under consideration is a measure that would establish a permanent Anti-Corruption Court, as well as an amendment to the 2001 Law on Corruption.

But in the final draft of the amendment the KPK's authority was stripped, leaving it only with investigative powers. The draft also contains loopholes that could be exploited by corruptors, the lawyers said.

Daniel Tonapa Masiku, one of the lawyers that visited the commission's headquarters in the Kuningan area of South Jakarta, said in order to curb corruption effectively, the country needed an independent body with as much authority as the KPK.

"We need this kind of body," Masiku said. "All elements of society accept the KPK's authority. People trust the KPK. So efforts to limit its power betray the people's mandate."

Currently the KPK has the power to conduct its own investigations, prosecutions, wiretapping and supervision of corruption cases handled by police and prosecutors' offices. If the KPK considers a police investigation to be progressing too slowly, the commission can even take over the case entirely.

"If the bill passed as it is today, we would file a motion with the Constitutional Court and have the articles that are not favorable to the KPK annulled," he said.

Sugeng Teguh Santoso, another lawyer, said the group would also file a class-action lawsuit against the House and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights if the House failed to pass the Anti-Corruption Court bill in time. The current Anti-Corruption Court was established under a law that also established the KPK.

But in December 2006, the Constitutional Court ruled that the current antigraft court lacked a proper legal foundation and ordered a separate law to be drawn up before Dec. 19, saying the current court would otherwise be forced to disband.

The House, which was listed as the country's most corrupt institution in a recent study by Transparency International, was criticized for stalling the deliberation process. The Anti-Corruption Court has put a total of eight lawmakers behind bars on graft charges.