INDONESIA'S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT -- FOCUS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003069

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP
NSC FOR E.PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2017
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PREL EAID ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA'S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT -- FOCUS ON
REFORM, CIVIL LIBERTIES

REF: A. JAKARTA 3039

B. JAKARTA 1953

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Constitutional Court Chief Justice Jimly
Asshiddiqie--in a meeting with DCM--styled himself a
reformer, including in the area of civil liberties. He
added, however, that--in his opinion--reform of Indonesia's
court system would require at least another decade.
Asshiddiqie expressed appreciation for USG assistance and
appealed for more bilateral exchange programs. Asshiddiqie
is well-spoken and well-connected, and is said to be a
possible candidate for vice president in the 2009 election.
END SUMMARY.

ACCENT ON REFORM


2. (C) Asshiddiqie detailed his efforts to set an example for
Indonesia's justice sector. He told the DCM, in their
November 1 meeting that--while he did not view any single one
of his decisions as landmark in nature--he hoped his tenure
on the Court would nonetheless provide a turning point in
Indonesia's judicial history. He noted that he considered
himself a reformer and a supporter of civil liberties,
commenting briefly on cases where the Court recently struck
down "defamation" against government leaders as a crime and
struck down other Dutch colonial era laws that limited speech
against the government (ref b).


3. (C) Noting that he was "always making controversy,"
Asshiddiqie appeared to relish the public debate generated by
the Court's decisions and his own visibility. He found irony
in the fact that, although he viewed himself as a progressive
and civil libertarian, his recent decision in support of the
death penalty in cases involving narcotics (see ref a) had
cast him as a conservative. That said, the death penalty met
constitutional requirements and was very popular in
contemporary Indonesia. Asshiddiqie asserted that in any
case, should the Court want to address capital punishment in
principle, a narcotics case was the wrong place to do so,
given the overwhelming support in the country for capital
punishment for drug traffickers.


4. (C) Asshiddiqie expressed the hope that the Constitutional
Court would exert a reformist influence on the judicial
system as a whole. Nevertheless, he acknowledged, reform of
Indonesia's judiciary would take at least another decade. As
part of its reform efforts, he said, the Constitutional Court
was conducting outreach to local judges and attorneys by
inviting them to visit the Court. He hoped local judges
would come to view the Constitutional Court as a "career
peak" that they should strive for. Asshiddiqie acknowledged
that his court's decisions in the last year against the
Judicial Review Commission (a body meant to monitor judicial
ethics) were controversial, but declined to characterize them
as anti-reform.

TESTY TIES WITH SUPREME COURT


5. (C) Relations between the Supreme Court and the
Constitutional Court were at times tense, Asshiddiqie
affirmed. (Note: The Constitutional Court, as its name
states, handles constitution-related cases and several other
matters enumerated in the Indonesian Constitution. The
Supreme Court deals with all other appellate cases.) Several
recent press articles had suggested that the Supreme Court
could learn from the Constitutional Court and the effective
way it ran its affairs, he explained; this had caused some
tension. Despite some personal jealousies, however, the
overall relationship between the two courts was cooperative.
Asshiddiqie said he enjoyed a close working relationship with
Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan. The two, he
related, had worked together in an effective manner on a
Constitutional review panel formed by then president Habibie.



6. (C) Asshiddiqie was emphatic, however, that comprehensive
reform of the Supreme Court was urgently needed. The Supreme

JAKARTA 00003069 002 OF 002


Court currently had 60 justices tackling upwards of 20,000
cases per year. Instead, it should have nine members, like
the Constitutional Court, and strictly limit the number of
appellate cases it was willing to hear. At present,
Asshiddiqie said, there was no proper constitutional,
statutory or regulatory definition of what could and could
not be appealed to the Supreme Court.

MORE ASSISTANCE, PLEASE


7. (U) In addition to the court management-related programs
the USG is currently implementing, the DCM asked how the U.S.
could further assist the Constitutional Court. In response,
Asshiddiqie highlighted the importance of professional and
educational exchanges. He said the U.S.-Indonesia bilateral
relationship was substantially strengthened by the fact that
so many Indonesian decision-makers had some direct experience
with the U.S. and its education system. More of these
exchanges and programs would make a great deal of difference
in the judicial area.

A POSSIBLE VP CANDIDATE?


8. (C) Asshiddiqie, 51, is well-spoken and well-connected,
and is said to be a possible candidate for vice president on
some presidential candidate's ticket in the 2009 election.
He is very friendly toward the USG -- he conducted research
at the University of Washington in 1989 and did post-graduate
coursework at Harvard Law School in 1994.

HUME