Budget Cut by 54 Percent, Judicial Commission Could Stop Working

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The budget efficiency policy implemented by the government may impact the inability to carry out the constitutional duties borne by the Judicial Commission. The budget cut of approximately 54 percent from the 2025 budget ceiling limits the operational scope of the state institution, even for performing its primary tasks of recruiting Supreme Court judge candidates and supervising judges.

The leadership of the Judicial Commission or KY will soon hold a leadership meeting to address the situation. "Yes, you can imagine. A state institution, how come, can't work to serve the people seeking justice," said the Spokesperson for the Judicial Commission, Mukti Fajar Nur Dewata, when confirmed on Monday (3/2/2025).

Referring to Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 2025 on Spending Efficiency in the Implementation of the 2025 State Budget and Regional Budget, the government is implementing efficiency measures on the budgets of several ministries and agencies. KY is one of the agencies that must implement efficiency measures amounting to IDR 100 billion from the 2025 budget ceiling of IDR 184.526 billion, equivalent to 54 percent.

The Judicial Commission must explain that the budget cuts have rendered the institution organizationally paralyzed and have hindered the performance of oversight. This explanation must be made institutionally to the Minister of Finance and the President.

"There is indeed a budget cut, the exact amount is with the Secretary General of KY. But from the received budget, it is only enough for routine operations. Therefore, KY's main duties and functions have no budget," said Mukti.

The tasks of the Judicial Commission that are threatened to be unfulfilled due to the budget cuts include, among others, the selection of Supreme Court justice candidates, public service reports up to examinations, and others. "The capacity building of judges also cannot proceed, including advocacy," said Mukti.

Referring to Article 24 B of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, the Judicial Commission (KY) has the authority to propose the appointment of Supreme Court justices and also has other powers to maintain and uphold the honor, dignity, and conduct of judges. Based on this authority, the Judicial Commission selects candidates for Supreme Court justices to fill vacancies and supervises judges, particularly in terms of enforcing the code of ethics and guidelines for judicial conduct (KEPPH).

Last year, the Judicial Commission (KY) selected candidates for Supreme Court justices and sent 12 names to the House of Representatives (DPR) for approval. However, in September 2024, the DPR rejected all the candidates proposed by KY on the grounds that two candidates did not meet the administrative requirements as stipulated in the Supreme Court Law.

The names of the candidates for Supreme Court justices are intended to fill the vacancies of Supreme Court justices in the MA. Currently, out of the 60 Supreme Court justice seats allowed by law, the MA has 45 Supreme Court justices.

In the field of enforcing judicial ethics, the KY receives thousands of complaints from the public every year. In 2023, for example, the KY received 3,593 public reports regarding court officials. This number increased compared to the previous year, which was 2,925 reports.

To overcome the budget shortfall, Mukti Fajar said that his party would hold a meeting to address this problem.

Legal observer and researcher at Centra Initiative, Erwin Natosmal Oemar said, the budget quota reflects the politics of the government regime. Efforts to reduce the budget for public services in the justice sector which has implications for performance amputation show the regime's indifference to the urgency of judicial governance by the KY.

"KY must explain that the cuts have paralyzed the institution organizationally and made the supervision performance not run smoothly. The explanation must be done institutionally to the Minister of Finance and the President," Erwin suggested.

Meanwhile, law enforcement institutions such as the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court did not experience budget cuts. The MA budget remains in accordance with the established ceiling, which is IDR 12.68 trillion while the MK budget is IDR 611.477 billion.

Head of the Legal and Public Relations Bureau of MA Sobandi when confirmed confirmed that there were no budget cuts for his agency. However, there are budget saving measures, namely savings of up to 50 percent for official travel budgets. In addition, the MA capital expenditure budget is still blocked by the Ministry of Finance.