Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Supreme Court has assigned 22 senior judges to serve
district courts and the high court of the troubled Maluku
province, a Supreme Court official said on Monday.
"There is no objection from the judges since it's only a
tour of duty," deputy chief of the Supreme Court Taufiq told
reporters.
The Supreme Court would take back the judges from Ambon if each
of them has dealt with a minimum of 100 cases, he said.
"If a judge can hear the cases in a month, we will take
him back from Ambon in a month," he said.
The Supreme Court will send them to Ambon as soon as the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights issues their assignment
papers.
"We can't wait any longer as there are heaps of cases
waiting in Ambon due to the acute shortage of judges there. We
will accompany them to Ambon to prove that we are not deterred by
conditions there," he said.
Hundreds of law violations have been abandoned since many
judges and prosecutors have left the province because of the
political instability and the prolonged conflict.
Senior judges, Taufiq said, are believed to have the expertise
to handle cases in Ambon 'wisely'. The three-year old
Christian-Muslim conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives.
To assure the safety of the judges, the Supreme Court has hired
security guards at their rented houses, Taufiq said. The judges,
too, deserve protection from the Maluku authorities, he said.
Currently, the Ambon District Court has only three judges. The
court used to have 10 judges, including its chief and deputy
chief.
However, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights director general
for civil and state administrative courts Soejatno said that the
ministry had only prepared 15 judges to be sent to Ambon.
"We only got 15 names. They are seniors judges from around
the country, who have served in the court system for at least 10
years. They comprise different religions, but the composition is
balanced," he said.
