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Selasa, 26 Agustus 2008 | 00:32 WIB

SLEMAN, KOMPAS – Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Mahfud MD, promised the independency of the ninth constitution justices he lead in carrying out the institution’s tasks. It was important so that the Court could produce objective and responsible decisions.

That was revealed by Mahfud to the journalist in the meeting in Sleman, DI Yogyakarta, Sunday (24/8). ”the justices will be given full independency to work according to the constitution and free from the pressure of any parties,” said Mahfud who replaced Jimly Asshiddiqie.

The pressure he mentioned that normally came from NGOs, government, and other institutions outside the Cout, that aimed to influenced the decision of the Court.

Mahfud said that even though he held the top position, he would not dominate the decision made by the institution. He would relied this on the discussion process among members of justices. ”I believe that if the justices are given freedom in working, the decisions can be according to the constitution,” he said.

The expert in Constitution Law from Gadjah Mada University, Denny Indrayana, said that independency of constitutional justices had to be kept as a believe in an judicial institution. ”The Constitutional Court also has to establish impartiality principle under the new leadership,” he said.

Impartiality, according to Denny, is the attitude of non-alignement that had to be possessed by every justice in carrying out their tasks. This was due to the strategic position of the Court in the Indonesian constitutional structure so that it was often trapped among political interests.

”The only alignment for justices is toward the constitution,” he said.

Denny saw this principle becomes very important in preparing for the general election 2009. The Constitutional Court which has the authority to settle the dispute in the election would be more intens as the struggling areas among political parties interests.

”The justices have to separate themselves from political preferences that could influenced their decision,” said Denny.

If this was done, Denny worried that the Court could be an institution that triggered conflicts in the people and indirectly could decrease the legitimation and good image of the Court that had been built in the last five years. (ENG)

Source: http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/08/26/0032445/ketua.mk.janjikan.independensi.hakim.mk

photo: Constitutional Court Public Relation Doc.

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