Jakarta – Antigraft activists, officials and judges all admit that the network of corruption within the judicial system, known as the "court mafia", is becoming more prevalent.
Patra M. Zein, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI), said the network of corruption runs counter to the constitutional principle of equal legal rights for every citizen,
"Every stage in the court process always involves paying bribes. Poor people, who don't have any money, are certainly not treated equally in our legal system," he said in a discussion Tuesday.
Patra said to eradicate the court mafia, law enforcers should involve lawyers' associations such as the YLBHI when investigating crimes within the judicial system.
"The justice seekers and lawyers are the ones who understand the corruption problems at court. We have been active in reporting violations in the judicial system, but there should be more effective cooperation," said Patra, adding that in order to give equal legal rights to the poor, the government should provide free legal aid.
Bambang Widjojanto, former chairman of the YLBHI, said to eradicate the court mafia, watchdogs in law enforcement institutions, such as the Judicial Commission, the National Police Commission and the Attorney General's Office Commission, should coordinate with one another.
"The problems in the judicial system should be solved at all levels," Bambang said, stressing that law enforcers and advocates must also take action themselves to eradicate the court mafia.
"I propose that lawyers be required to make financial reports detailing all expenditure, to check whether the money is being given to law enforcers as bribes," he said.
He also proposed that law enforcers should be required to sign binding contracts stipulating that they would explain the source of their assets. If there is any asset of dubious source, that asset could be frozen by investigators.
Thahir Saimima, the vice chairman of the Judicial Commission, said his institution lacked the authority to punish judges who violated ethical codes. The commission can recommend sanctions for judges, but the Supreme Court Supervisory Agency is the body that decides the punishment. Thahir said the agency had been ineffective in implementing the Judicial Commission recommendations.
Muhammad Syarifuddin, the head of the Supreme Court Supervisory Agency, disagreed. He said because his institution was inside the court system, it had been effective in punishing judges in a timely manner.
"It is true my institution has been unable to punish all the 'bad' judges, but that is because of a lack of manpower," he said.
With regard to the court mafia, Syarifuddin said his institution had been trying to gather reports from all society stakeholders. "We are trying to improve the reporting mechanism and now our website accepts online reports," he said. (mrs)