INDONESIA'S SUPREME COURT GAINS TRACTION IN REFORM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001799 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, INL DEPT FOR EEB/IFD/OMA DOJ/OPDAT FOR ALEXANDRE/BERMAN/JOHNSON NSC FOR DWALTON E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/28/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUS KDEM ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA'S SUPREME COURT GAINS TRACTION IN REFORM EFFORT REF: A. JAKARTA 108 ¶B. 08 JAKARTA 1631 AND PREVIOUS JAKARTA 00001799 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In his first year as Chief Justice of Indonesia's Supreme Court, Harifin Tumpa has demonstrated a strong commitment to reforming Indonesia's judiciary. Under Tumpa,s leadership, the court has instituted a code of conduct and undertaken human resource and financial management reform. Court cases that had stalled under his predecessor were resolved in the past year, helping clear the docket. Although more complete reform of the judiciary will take time, there has been much progress in the past year. U.S. assistance has supported these efforts. END SUMMARY. CHIEF JUSTICE: ONE YEAR REVIEW ¶2. (SBU) Indonesia's Supreme Court is working to improve its performance. Harifin Tumpa,s record during his first years as Chief Justice has pointed toward further court reform, and better management and decision-making. Tumpa initially became the Acting Chief Justice on an interim basis in November 2008 when the previous Chief Justice Bagir Manan reached the mandatory retirement age of 67 and was forced to resign (reftel B). (The retirement age has since been raised to 70 years.) Tumpa, 67, had served as one of the Vice Chief Justices prior to that appointment. Tumpa was selected as the permanent Chief Justice in January 2009 (reftel A). (Note: The Supreme Court is Indonesia's highest court of appeal and oversees the management of the district courts and the high courts of appeal. The Constitutional Court, which is equal in stature to the Supreme Court, has the jurisdiction to hear cases involving the constitutionality of particular legislation, results of a general election and actions to dismiss a President from office.) ¶3. (SBU) The selection of Harifin Tumpa as the Chief Justice was criticized by many in the NGO community. Those concerns have proven to be unfounded as so far Tumpa has pursued a strong reform agenda and produced better court decisions during his first year. UNDER TUMPA,S LEADERSHIP: CLEARING THE DOCKET ¶4. (C) Under Tumpa,s leadership, the Supreme Court has reduced the case backlog. Most notably, the Supreme Court in April overturned its earlier decision against Time magazine, in which the court had ordered the publication to pay $91 million in damages to the family of former president Suharto over defamation charges. The case had languished for over a year when Bagir Manan was Chief Justice. According to legal contacts, although there is still corruption in the lower courts, once a case reaches the Supreme Court, the court often makes an unbiased decision--and does so efficiently. COURT REFORM EFFORTS ¶5. (SBU) During his keynote address at the Supreme Court's annual meeting on October 7, Harifin Tumpa emphasized the need for further court reform. Tumpa noted that the judiciary faces a problem of credibility. Judgments from the lower courts are often confusing, leading to poor implementation; the delay in publication of the decisions hinders the appeal process; and delays in court hearings and a lack of transparency lead the public to suspect that delays or decisions are based in misconduct or abuse of power. ¶6. (SBU) Tumpa outlined a multipronged approach to improving court services and increasing public trust in the Supreme Court. He noted that the Blue Print, the Supreme Court's strategic plan, had initially been developed by outside donors, but now needed to be integrated into and socialized with the members of the court. (Note: Parliament recently amended three laws on the judiciary that support the reforms detailed below.) He outlined approximately 20 initiatives that covered the following areas of reform, including: -- improving court transparency; -- improving financial management of the court; and, -- addressing human resource constraints, especially lack of JAKARTA 00001799 002.2 OF 002 adequate supervision. ¶7. (SBU) The court has now fully adopted a judicial code of conduct, and under Tumpa,s leadership, disciplined more court officials than in previous years. The Supreme Court has taken disciplinary action against 89 judicial officials, including the dismissal of 21 judges, in the first six months of this year. This is a higher figure than under the previous Court. Those dismissed were suspected of taking bribes, and those receiving disciplinary action interacted with one of the disputing parties in an inappropriate fashion. (Note: The code of conduct was passed in April ¶2009. Under the code, judges are not permitted to meet individually with parties to discuss details of the case.) U.S. ASSISTANCE HELPS ¶8. (SBU) U.S. assistance has facilitated the reform effort. Over the past few years, with support from the Millennium Challenge Corporation as well as other USAID funding, USAID programs have spearheaded these reforms. In support of human resources reform, USAID has helped the Supreme Court institute a judicial code of conduct, wealth reporting, job descriptions and a staff assessment, and a human resources database. USAID and the Court have engaged in budget management and asset management reform. To assist the Court with its transparency goals, USAID has developed an online court publication system, developed a public complaint system and trained court members in public relations. FULL COURT REFORM WILL TAKE TIME ¶9. (C) Despite early reservations, Civil Society has strong praise for the new Chief Justice. Aria Suyudi from Indonesian Center for Law and Policy Studies and Dian Rositawati from Indonesian Institute for an Independent Judiciary told poloff that Tumpa has been more decisive on reform initiatives, although they still questioned his ability to institute long-term and comprehensive reform. They noted that because Tumpa rose through the ranks of the Supreme Court judges, while Bagir Manan was appointed, Tumpa is more confident in his position and seemingly better able to institute reforms that may be controversial among justices. ¶10. (C) Although these internal reforms are impressive, complete reform will take time. Supreme Court Justice Syamsul Ma,arif, who was a member of the recent USG-sponsored "Rule of Law Forum" trip to the U.S., told poloff that many positive steps had been taken to increase transparency and good decision making. He cautioned that complete reform would still require patience as not all of the reforms had been socialized and adopted by every court official. He also noted that the judicial system works as a whole and that the lack of reform in other areas of the system, like the stalled effort at the Attorney General's Office, could hinder complete judicial reform. HUME