Supreme Court Rejects the Challenge to the Judicial Mafia Taskforce

en.hukumonline.com | Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - The petition, by Haris Rusly, an activist with the “Petition 28” movement, to dissolve the Judicial Mafia Taskforce has failed, with the Supreme Court issuing a decision on the rejection of the application to review Presidential Decree No. 37 of 2009 on the Eradication of Judicial Mafia. 

“The petition challenging the Presidential Decree, if I am not mistaken, has been decided yesterday, with the request being rejected,” stated Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Harifin A. Tumpa to reporters at the Supreme Court building after Friday prayers (6/8). 

The decision to refuse the petition, according to Mr. Tumpa, was due to the fact that the Presidential Decree is not a rule that can be subject to review. As such, it is more akin to a decision on the appointment of individuals to the Judicial Mafia Taskforce.

“The decision is based on the fact that the Presidential Decree is not a regulation, but a letter of appointment of persons based on a decision,” he explained. “So it is not actually a Presidential Decree.” 

Mr. Tumpa added that following the decision, steps can be taken to submit the claim to the State Administrative Court. “If they want to press ahead in the Administrative Court it is none of our concern, that is up to the applicant,” he explained. 

Haris Rusly, an activist with the “Petition 28” movement, filed the petition to have the Presidential Decree reviewed by the Supreme Court. Claiming that the Judicial Mafia Taskforce was created in breach of Law No. 2 of 2002 on the National Police and Law No. 16 of 2004 on the Public Prosecutor. Consequently, the existence of the Taskforce disrupts the law enforcement system in Indonesia, by creating a conflict of authority with the police and the public prosecutor. 

When contacted separately, Adhie Massardi, another member of the “Petition 28” movement, said that the Supreme Court has shown a lack of courage to render a proper decision on the matter. “The Supreme Court did not dare to resolve the messy legal issues with respect of the establishment of the Presidential Taskforce,” opined Mr. Massardi when speaking with reporters by telephone. 

Mr. Massardi suspected the Taskforce had ‘influenced’ the Supreme Court to decide in their favour. “It is possible that there was an intervention from the Taskforce, considering the Taskforce is known to have many networks,” he said.  

According to Mr. Massardi the formation of the Judicial Mafia Taskforce is a very ambitious enterprise which grants the Taskforce broad discretion on when and where to intervene, for example, with respect to the police and the courts. He added that the “Petition 28” movement will take other legal action, such as, for example, filing an administrative lawsuit to challenge the Decree. “We will probably bring our petition to the Administrative Court,” he concluded.

Agus Sahbani / Filipp Levin