•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

With the election of the new Supreme Court chairman on Wednesday, hopes have risen for a fresh start that could revive the tarnished image of the judicial body.

Hatta Ali, for three years a Supreme Court deputy chairman for supervision, beat four other Supreme Court judges — Ahmad Kamil, Abdul Kadir Mappong, Paulus Effendi Lotulung and M. Saleh — taking 28 of the 54 votes, far head of second-place Kamil, who only got 15.

Mappong received four votes, Paulus one and Saleh three.

“The public has made it clear that the settlement of cases, from the first court to the Supreme Court, has been taking too long,” Hatta said after his election. “Therefore, we will remedy this. We will accelerate [the process].”

He vowed that during his first 100 day as chairman of the country’s highest judicial authority, he would strive to improve the quality of judges through training courses.

“With this, we hope that judges will be able to complete cases rapidly and the accuracy of the implementation of the law will be improved,” Hatta said.

He also vowed to enhance the quality of supervision for judges across the archipelago, while at the same time fighting for their improved welfare.

Eman Suparman, the chairman of the Judicial Commission (KY), expressed hope that under Hatta, ties between the two institutions would improve. Relations took a dip after Hatta’s predecessor, Harifin Tumpa, accused the watchdog of intervening with judges by evaluating their verdicts.

“We hope that in the future, under Mr. Hatta, we will no longer be seen as interfering with the independence of judges,” Eman said.

He said the commission was simply evaluating verdicts to see whether there were any ethical violations compromising the judges’ rulings.

Jimly Asshidiqqie, a former chairman of the Constitutional Court, also said he hoped ties would be mended between the Supreme Court and the KY.

“The most important thing is that [the Supreme Court] can, together with the Judicial Commission and other legal institutions, make improvements in their respective areas of authority, especially in the Supreme Court,” Jimly said.

He also said that as the head of the largest legal institution with broad authority and power, the chairman of the Supreme Court should make use of his position to introduce serious reforms.

Trimedya Panjaitan, a lawmaker on House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs, said Hatta’s track record as deputy chairman for supervision was reason to hope for a better Supreme Court.

“I very much hope that under his leadership, the Supreme Court will be able to improve the quality of its verdicts so that they can bring a sense of justice for the people,” he said.

Indra, a member of the same commission, said Hatta had the ability to consolidate the Supreme Court and improve the integrity of its judges.

He said Hatta should begin by launching an internal consolidation of the court, pointing out that the Constitutional Court has demonstrated its ability to resolve cases within the timeframe set by law — 14 days — and immediately provide copies of verdicts to the public, free of charge.

In comparison, he said, Supreme Court cases often grew complicated and dragged on for too long.

Further Coverage

Profile of Hatta Ali > A3