2 - The Supreme Court

Summary

During the Old and New Order regimes, the status and legitimacy of the Supreme Court was in a state of despair. The reformasi enabled the judiciary and the Supreme Court in particular to strengthen its independence, power and prestige by having, among others, a more free appointment and removal process of Supreme Court judges, new power to manage the personnel and resources of the lower courts as well as expansion of its own organization and budget. Despite such progress, as the highest judicial organ in the land with power to interpret the law, review government actions and regulations and control the overall courts, the Supreme Court missed the opportunity to establish its legitimacy in the eyes of the public and other state institutions. This had led them to look for other venues to protect their rights and interest, such as by bringing the cases to the Constitutional Court. This chapter examines some of the major changes and dynamics during the reformasi and explains how and why the Supreme Court fails to perform its basic function to provide legal certainty, protection and check and balance to the other arms of government.