Restoring the Integrity of the Judicial System in Indonesia

Abstract

Corruptions in the judicial system in the form of bribery, cannot be simplified because it gets in touch with a very significant principle among root principles of legal supremacy in a democratic society, namely the principle of independence of the judiciary, which consider to be the fundamental guarantee of a fair trial to all person, in all kinds and levels of court. In 2013 The Indonesian Commission of Eradication Corruption (KPK) has identified that judicial system in Indonesia as the third of the most corrupt institution in the country. The World Justice Project, an independent multi-disciplinary organization working to advance the rule of law around the world based on several criteria has placed Indonesia on number 52 in the Global Ranking of The Rule of Law Index (2015), under Singapore, Malaysia and The Philippines in ASEAN countries.Any corruption committed in court or judicial system has violated of and contradictory to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (1948), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966), which emphasized that everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal. In this context, The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (2002) laid stress on the unitary principles of independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, quality, competence and diligence. And the spirit of integrity is the core, because it is essential to the proper discharge of the judicial office. The judicial system is corrupted when any act or omission is intended to result in the loss impartiality of the judiciary and other elements of the judicial system. Specifically, corruption occurs whenever a judge and other judicial officer seeks or receives a benefit of any kind or promise of a benefit or any kind in respect of an exercise of power or other action in violation of judicial independence principle.Recognizing the corrosive impacts of corruptions in Indonesian’s judicial system in the maintaining a democratic society, the rule of law and to promote as well as to protect human rights, the author  proposes a Comprehensive Policy and Strategic Framework for Elimination the Corruption in Court, based on “the Triple–Track Approach”, namely “the Preventive Approach, The Early Detection Approach, and The Repressive Approach”. The Prevention Approach is actualizing prevention efforts without utilizing the criminal justice system; The Early Detection Approach consist of efforts to encourage public participation and the mass-media in the process of detecting, exposing, preventing, eliminating and combating corruption in the judicial system; and Repressive Approach is actualizing the effectiveness of criminal justice system. For the sake of successful realization of this policy and strategy, the existence of personal mastery of human resources equipped with tough mental model, shared vision, team learning, system thinking and unity of command, considered to be prerequisite in the organization of the judicial power.

Keywords: Restoring, Integrity of Judicial System