Circulating Discourse on Reshuffling Judges and Clerks in All Jakarta District Courts

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The Supreme Court needs to conduct a "reshuffle" of all judges, including the heads of courts and registrars serving in Jakarta. This is important as a concrete effort for serious reform within the court environment, following the arrest of the Head of the South Jakarta District Court and three judges from the Jakarta Corruption Court.

There is information circulating that the leadership of the Supreme Court is currently reviewing and improving the promotion and transfer patterns for all class IA special district court chairpersons. This is due to public scrutiny regarding the conditions in the Class IA Special District Court not only occurring at the Central Jakarta District Court but also in other courts such as the Medan District Court, Makassar District Court, Surabaya District Court, and others.

When confirmed, Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for Non-Judicial Affairs Suharto indirectly confirmed that there is currently a process of mutation promotion for judges. Kompas asked whether the Supreme Court leadership is preparing mutation promotions for judges and clerks throughout the Jakarta District Court in order to clean up after the arrest of the Chief Justice of the South Jakarta District Court.

In response to the question, Tuesday (22/4/2025), Suharto said, “Wait for Badilum. The information will be uploaded later when it is finished. Be patient.”

Information about the reshuffle of judges in a number of district courts has received a positive response from legal practitioners.

"If it is true that the (re-draw) is brave enough to be executed by the Supreme Court, then that could be one of the serious corrective steps. However, this must also be accompanied by strict and quality selection for those who will enter (Jakarta)," said legal practitioner Miko Ginting in Jakarta.

Miko admitted to receiving information regarding the promotion of a mutation for the Chair of the Class IA Special District Court. However, if radical measures such as a reshuffle of the composition of judges and clerks assigned to all District Courts in Jakarta are implemented, he supports such a policy.

"Only the supply (of judges and clerks) needs to be strengthened along with the selection process," he added. He is concerned that if the individuals entering the District Court in Jakarta are not subjected to strict selection, the effort will be in vain as it will not resolve the issues.

On April 11, 2025, the Attorney General's Office arrested the Head of the South Jakarta District Court, Muhammad Arif Nuryanto, on suspicion of bribery worth Rp60 billion related to the handling of a corruption case involving palm oil or CPO exports involving three large companies. Arif, who previously served as Deputy Chairman of the Central Jakarta District Court, is suspected of arranging for the three corporations to be acquitted or ontslag van alle rechtsvervolging

In addition to Arif, the Attorney General's Office has also designated three judges from the Jakarta Corruption Court who handled the case as suspects and detained them. They are Djuyamto as the head of the panel, along with Ali Muhtarom and Agam Syarif as panel members.

In addition, there was also the Junior Clerk of Civil Affairs at the North Jakarta District Court, Wahyu Gunawan, and two lawyers representing the company, namely Marcella Santoso and Aryanto. Until now, the Attorney General's Office is still developing the case and has designated new suspects related to the matter.

The selection for judges and clerks who will serve in Jakarta, according to Miko, can be done by opening registration or open bidding. Anyone who is interested and has met the administrative requirements can take part in the selection process. However, the Supreme Court can also conduct talent scouting or search for candidates based on the track record data that the Supreme Court already has.

"Or it could be a combination of both," he said.

Certainly, he hopes that the Supreme Court will utilize the monitoring data already possessed by the Supreme Court Supervisory Agency in the search for clean judges and staff to fill strategic positions in the District Court in the Jakarta area.

"Because if there is a spotlight on negative track records, ideally there should also be a pool for positive track records," he said.

Separately, the Coordinator of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI), Boyamin Saiman, urged the Supreme Court to be open to the Judicial Commission, which is mandated by the constitution to conduct external oversight of judges. The Supreme Court should fully delegate this oversight authority to the Judicial Commission, considering that the internal oversight conducted thus far has been less effective.

The Supervisory Body of the Supreme Court, according to Boyamin, is less willing to take action against judges who are still considered "students" of the justices or high-ranking officials in the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the Judicial Commission also needs to be re-involved in the recruitment of prospective judges, not just prospective justices.

Initially, the Judicial Commission was granted authority by law in the recruitment of judges. However, this provision was subsequently challenged in the Constitutional Court and upheld. The authority of the Judicial Commission to participate in the selection of prospective judges was revoked.

In fact, according to Boyamin, the involvement of the Judicial Commission in selecting individuals who hold the position of judge is essential. He also proposed that the Judicial Commission be granted the authority to assess judges' decisions. This assessment would be used in determining the promotion and transfer of judges.