Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The Judiciary Commission must be strengthened if the government is serious about eradicating corruption in the judiciary and stamping out the so-called "court mafia", a seminar concluded Tuesday.

Officials and legal experts at the seminar agreed that amending the recent Judicial Commission Law would be a good way to start.

"We must not waste our time merely discussing how to tackle corruption without taking any real action to tackle it. We must amend the law," Thahir Saimima, a member of the commission, told the seminar.

Saimima said the amendment should give the commission power to investigate and punish offending judges.

"I expect to see that in the immediate future the Judicial Commission will be able to closely monitor the judges and summon them when they need to investigate," he added.

The current Judicial Commission Law has been criticized for being too weak and not giving the commission the power it needs to effectively monitor judges.

According to the law, the commission only has the authority to select candidates for positions on the Supreme Court.

"The ball is in the hands of the government and the House right now. If they really want to eradicate judicial corruption then I don't see any more obstacles that would prevent them from deliberating the amendment," he said.

United Development Party (PPP) legislator Lukman Hakim Syafiuddin acknowledged the House would most likely be unable to amend the law before their term ends in October.

"With several other bills, such as the corruption court bill, that need to be passed in time, I must say we probably won't be able to make any amendments to the existing Judicial Commission Law as we are running out of time," he said.

Lukman added the task of passing the amendment would be most likely be passed on to the incoming members of the house.

He, however, agreed that giving the commission more power, especially in its authority to monitor judges, would contribute a great deal to the country's effort to eradicating the court mafia.

Lawyer-cum-graft-activist Todung Mulya Lubis, who also attended the seminar, agreed as to the importance of strengthening the commission's authority, saying increased monitoring would force judges to work within the law.

"They would know that they are monitored by an outside body. This would be a good deterrent for judges who are thinking about accepting bribes," he said.

Judge Artijo Alkostar said that good monitoring would enhance the integrity of the nation's judges.