Berita

Dean Faculty of Law Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Iwan Satriawan, S.H., MCL., Ph.D was invited as a speaker on Roundtable Discussion entitled “The Development of the Judicial Appointment Process in Malaysia, Indonesia & Turkey” on Thursday (7/10). The program was held by Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL) International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in collaboration with the Faculty of Law Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta and Istanbul Medeniyet University Turkey. The program is a part of a long collaboration between Faculty of Law Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta and Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The program also invited Prof. Farid Sufian Shuaib (IIUM) and Dr. Murat Tumay (Istanbul Medeniyet University, Turkey).

Dr. Iwan Satriawan presented a topic on “The Development of the Judicial Appointment Process in Indonesia-with Special Reference to the Appointment of Supreme Court and Constitutional Court Justices.” The appointment process of the judges is essential because the justices in both organs are the judges at the highest level in the justice system, ensure that all candidates are worth to be selected and able to be justice, clarity for the people and all sectors to know the process and commenting on the process, ensure the independence of the judiciary, judges play a central role in the judicial process, and to maintain the establishment of democracy and pillars of the state of law.

The judiciary is an important factor in improving governance practices, especially for those who believe that it is part of the rights of the people, which the government regulates. The essence of the judiciary is that judges play a central role in the judicial process so that only good judges can decide cases that reflect a sense of community justice, that is, following the law. The judiciary’s reputation is crucial (individual or collective as a whole) to ensure the quality of the judiciary. When the individual reputation is terrible due to the conduct of justice, the institution will be stamped as a bad institution because of the judiciary’s function in making the decision a collective production.

Using evidence from his research, Iwan explains that in Indonesia, after reform, the judicial appointment process was improved significantly, especially for the appointment process of the justice of the Supreme Court, which involves the Judicial Commission in the first step judicial appointment process. The Judicial Commission selects the candidates to be considered by the House of Representatives and then submitted for the consideration of the President.

Meanwhile, in a New Order, the Justices are appointed by the President as Head of State from the list of candidates proposed by the House of Representatives. The list of candidates as referred to in paragraph (1) Law No. 14 of 1985 shall be submitted by the House of Representatives to the President as Head of State after the House of Representatives hears the opinion of the Supreme Court and the Government. The Chairman and Deputy Chief of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President as the Head of State among the Supreme Judges proposed by the House of Representatives. The President appoints the Junior Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as the Head of State among the Chief Justices proposed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

In the case of the appointment of Constitutional Court justices, Iwan criticized the unstandardized selection mechanism of justices among the proposing organs: the DPR, the President, and the Supreme Court. This problem has caused a lack of transparency and accountability of Constitutional Court justice appointments. The result is two justices who are the product of poor fit, and proper tests have been caught red-handed by the Corruption Eradication Commission, and another one involved in violation of the code of ethics.

The topic presented in the Roundtable Discussion is one of the results of the Research Collaboration between the Faculty of Law UMY and AIKOL IIUM from 2020 to 2021 sponsored by Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Iwan emphasizes that this research collaboration will continue among the staffs from both Universities as part of the academic cooperation agreed last few years ago. (Dev)