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

High-profile lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea recently told The New York Times: “If I say I’m a clean lawyer, I’ll be a hypocrite. If lawyers say they are clean, they will go to jail, they’ll go to hell.”

Hotman’s words may have been inspired by former National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who has courageously blown the whistle on judicial case brokers. As we have seen, although many doubt Susno is clean, he has received accolades from some for his courage, even if he is now in jail. Hotman might wish he could also receive credit for making his own bold statements.

Of course, many find his words unsurprising, given the widespread perception of judicial corruption in the country. Almost daily the media reports on corruption cases involving law officials and we are constantly amazed at how easy it is to make money from graft.

Cynics will say that even if corrupt practices are exposed, little attention will be paid by anticorruption bodies or the bar association.

Hotman clearly paints an unflattering picture of the legal system. His words proclaim that our judicial system is so corrupt that “most,” if not all, lawyers have paid bribes to win cases.

As a practicing lawyer, I’m not naive and I know that there are many cases where bribery is suspected to have had an influence. Not only lawyers, but also law-enforcement agencies are part of the culture of corruption in this country.

One of the reasons corruption thrives in Indonesia is because our entire social environment is tolerant of dishonest practices. The spirit of corruption lives in every aspect of our public lives and at almost all levels of society, from taxi drivers to top-level executives and government officials. It is so common that we dismiss it as normal and something that is rarely exposed.

The effects of corruption in a developing nation like ours are myriad. Many studies describe the evils of corruption; there is no need to discuss that here. There is, however, one thing worth mentioning about the effects of corruption and the lack of integrity among lawyers.

The absence of a well-functioning legal system and the lack of lawyers with integrity present a fundamental barrier to economic development. We have to keep in mind that where the law is uncertain, there is no law. If a country is perceived as legally dysfunctional, law-abiding companies (including foreign investors) will be scared away. This has a tremendously negative impact on the economy.

According to Principle 10 of the UN Global Compact: “Corruption is now recognized to be one of the world’s greatest challenges. It is a major hindrance to sustainable development, with a disproportionate impact on poor communities and is corrosive to the very fabric of society. The impact on the private sector is also considerable — it impedes economic growth, distorts competition and represents serious legal and reputational risks.”

Lawyers have an important role to play in the war against corruption because of their central role in the legal system. Regretfully, many tolerate corrupt practices. I remember a colleague saying that corruption is almost unavoidable.

Indeed, some lawyers erroneously think corruption or bribery is acceptable in certain situations. Their morality is so relaxed they think it has been a tradition for so long that they must follow the pack in order to survive.

The ethical standards of many lawyers has declined precipitously in recent years. One of the reasons is because they have seen that hard work and integrity are not rewarded, while corrupt lawyers get rich and famous.

Some Indonesian lawyers have a compulsion to take a shortcut to affluence and glory. Perhaps they have been inspired by the movie “Devil’s Advocate,” which features a young lawyer who has never lost a case even when his client is guilty. I see more and more lawyers now becoming obsessed with getting rich and famous in a short time. But there is no fast-track method to becoming a truly good lawyer.

We have to be deeply concerned about the loss of honor and integrity among our lawyers and judges. It is imperative we produce high-quality lawyers who have not only knowledge and technical skills but also strength of character. It is not easy, but it is not impossible.

Lawyers who have strength of character and competency should have the ability to transform our culture of corruption. They should not close their eyes to spreading corruption. Not only must they remain clean, they must share responsibility for eliminating the taint of sleaze on our profession.

Concrete steps are obviously needed. Given lawyers’ enormous contribution to the mess that is our legal system, anticorruption bodies should follow through by investigating lawyers involved in numerous notorious court cases. If necessary, they should prosecute corrupt lawyers.

Any failure to act will further corrode the system and weaken public support for fighting corruption and repairing Indonesia’s broken and corrupt legal system.


Tony Budidjaja is a lawyer and secretary general of the Corruption Kills Institute in Jakarta