LAW ENFORCEMENT INSTITUTIONS: HOW BEHAVIOR OF LAW ENFORCER IMPLICATES PUBLIC TRUST
By Bagir Bintang Bahana Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Background As a Law student, one typically would not question the importance of Law in order to administer a State, since it also regulates important factors, including to maintain its economic and social stability. However, in promulgating the Laws, apart from the need of having quality within the process of drafting, it is also equally crucial to have quality in its implementation. In which if the laws are not implemented properly, it would only render the law useless. Issues Turning into the condition of Law Enforcer in Indonesia. I will divide them into two separate parts. Firstly, I will briefly discuss the performance with regards to the prominent roles that shall ensure the law enforcement of the state, namely 1) Judges of Court 2) Police Officers. Secondly, I will draw conclusion to which Indonesia should do to overcome the issues suffered in Indonesian Law enforcer. Judges and public perception. It is fair to say that Judges borne one of the highest responsibility to maintain the image and performance of law enforcement in Indonesia. Judges are vested with the highest authority in deciding who’s wrong and who’s not in the Court. They possess the capability to interpret the law, and use the law to render verdict towards cases. Referring to Indonesian Law No. 48/2009 on Authority of Judges, it is stipulated that a Judge shall respect independence of the proceeding and shall not be intervened in any way.1 Within the Court, a judge also shall be impartial and not siding to one party, in which known as the principle expressed in the maxim Audi Et Alteram Partem,2 which essentially means that no person should be judged without a fair hearing in which each party is given the opportunity to respond to the evidence against them.3
1 Art. 3 (1), (2), Indonesian Law on Authority of Judges No. 48/2009 2 Nuclear Test Case (Australia v. France), Judgment, 1974 ICJ rep. 58 p.265 3 Bryan A. Garner, Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th Ed (Washington: Thomson Reuters, 2009) p.1819
Yet, the big question remains, how does Indonesian Judges performs in real life? is it up to expectation as envisaged in the law and the maxims? As recalled from many sources, Indonesian society still perceive that the state has a notably weak law enforcement credibility. To draw this issue easier, Former Head of Indonesian’s Constitutional Court Judge, Akil Mochtar, were indicted in 2014 as he was proven committing bribery to the winnings of multiple regional election lawsuits.4 The case was certainly a huge blow towards the credibility of law enforcer.5 Statistically, according to Indonesian Survey Body, public trust towards the Constitutional Court was 63,7% in October 2010, then 61,5% in September 2011, and suddenly plummeted in October 2013 by only gaining 28%.6 This is the first time ever that public trust of Constitutional Court hits lowest percentage. Due to this, public satisfactory with regards to law enforcement also plummeted significantly. Police and public perception. Although job description between Police and Judges are clearly distinguishable, both institution equally holds similar responsibility to ensure the enforcement of laws in the state. Different from the former example of Constitutional Court. Unfortunately, Police in Indonesia have already suffered little amount of support for such a long time. Since Indonesian’s new order era, led by the then President Soeharto, police enforcement was already associated with ‘super power’ and tyranny.7 Massacre8 over massacre9 occured, striking down public perception and left dark, bitter memories towards the citizen.
4 Haeril Halim, The Jakarta Post, “Historic sentence for Akil” July 1, 2014. Web available on
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/01/historic-sentence-akil.html (Accessed April 13, 2016) 5 Muhammad Ali, Liputan 6, “Akil Mochtar Ditangkap KPK, Kepercayaan Publik ke MK Anjlok” October 6, 2013. Web available on http://news.liputan6.com/read/712924/akil-mochtar-ditangkapkpk-kepercayaan-publik-ke-mk-anjlok (Accessed April 13, 2016) 6 Id., Lembaga Survei Indonesia, “Robohnya MK Kami”, Ocober 2013. Web available on http://lsi.co.id/lsi/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Materi-Konpers-Minggu-6-Oktober-2013Robohnya-MK-kami.pdf (Accessed April 13, 2016) 7 Mustiana Lestari, Merdeka, “Zaman Orde Baru, tak ada polisi ditembak tapi nembakin orang”, 14 September 2013. Web available on http://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/zaman-orde-baru-tak-adapolisi-ditembak-tapi-nembakin-orang.html (Accessed April 13, 2016) 8 Trisakti Tragedy, where police killed 6 Students’ amid demonstration to protest President Soeharto’s leadership. Web available on http://www.seasite.niu.edu/indonesian/Reformasi/Chronicle/Kompas/May13/enam01.htm 9 Semanggi Tragedy, where more than 20 civilians were killed and hundreds injured. Web available on https://www.library.ohiou.edu/indopubs/1998/11/23/0008.html
Up until now, Police still struggles to recover their trust. 10 Multiple issues still revolve around the institution, including narcotics comsumption,11 corrupted officers12, etc. Further, due to low perception, the level of obedience of society to Police institution also still suffer greatly. Possible Solutions • With regards to Indonesian Judges, it is extremely important to further restrict recruitment of Judges. It has to be ensured that all qualified judges will be impartial and independent in handling cases. • It is also advised that there should be better education and research department to drill Indonesian Judges. • With regards to Police enforcement, current status shows that Police have set forth its effort to recover public trust by encouraging and employed more policewoman to promote gender equality. • However, it shall still be advised as well that the enforcement is in dire need to be significantly revamped, tightening and control morale of the enforcer, and provide better service to the public.
10 Hans Jimenez, Liputan 6, “Kapolda Metro: Kepercayaan Publik pada Polisi Menurun”, 6 July
2015. Web available on http://news.liputan6.com/read/2267010/kapolda-metro-kepercayaan-publikpada-polisi-menurun (Accessed April 13, 2016) 11 Yan Muhardiansyah, Merdeka, “Simpan sabu di kamar kos, Briptu DAS dibekuk”, 15 April 2016. Web available on http://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/simpan-sabu-di-kamar-kos-briptu-dasdibekuk.html (Accessed April 13, 2016) 12 Laurencius Simanjuntak, Merdeka, “4 Jenderal polisi ini menangis terjerat korupsi”, 28 August 2013. Web available on http://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/4-jenderal-polisi-ini-menangis-terjeratkorupsi.html (Accessed April 13, 2016)