Right now, progressive steps are needed to address a shortage of ad-hoc corruption court judges at the Supreme Court and state administrative court judges for tax cases.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo appealed to the Judicial Commission (KY) to take prompt and progressive steps to handle the issue of a dearth of judges in the country.

"Right now, progressive steps are needed to address a shortage of ad-hoc corruption court judges at the Supreme Court and state administrative court judges for tax cases," the president noted while addressing the submission of the Judicial Commission's annual report 2021 monitored virtually from Jakarta on Wednesday.

In addition to ad-hoc judges at the Supreme Court, the Judicial Commission must leave no stone unturned to handle the shortage of state administrative court judges to protect state revenues from the taxation sector, he emphasized.

To this end, the Judicial Commission is required to ensure the availability of ad-hoc Supreme Court judges and state administrative court judges, with high integrity, recruited through a transparent, objective, and professional selection process, he affirmed.

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The head of state also urged the Judicial Court to ensure that every judge candidate proposed by the House of Representatives (DPR) has a good track record.

"The judge candidate proposed by the DPR must have a good track record, integrity, and competency as well as high spirit and commitment to combat corruption," he remarked.

As a judge honor guard, the Judicial Commission must be able to conduct its independent supervisory function, so that the judge's independent power can work in harmony with justice accountability, he stressed.

In the meantime, the Judicial Commission must also ensure that every action underestimating the judge's honor can be addressed as maximally as possible in order to guard the honor of the justice institution, he remarked.

To date, 55 candidates for chief justice and 11 candidates for the ad-hoc corruption court judges at the Supreme Court have passed the quality selection conducted by the Judicial Commission.

The Judicial Commission will select three out of the 11 candidates for ad-hoc corruption court judges at the Supreme Court that have cleared the quality selection.

Candidates for chief justice and ad-hoc corruption court judges are entitled to follow medical and personality tests.

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Translator: Mentari Dwi Gayati, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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