Indonesia has been described as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. In 2008, the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index stated that Indonesia ranked 130th least transparent out of 180 countries. However, the continued existence of the Corruption Court in Indonesia which has tried many corruption cases and is trying to improve Indonesia’s anti corruption activities, is now under threat.

The Corruption Court was formed under Article 53 of Law Number 30 of 2002 on the Commission for the Eradication of Corruption (Law No. 30 of 2002) in order to examine and rule on corruption offences brought by the Commission for the Eradication of Corruption (the KPK) in its indictments.  The role of the KPK is to (i) coordinate with the agencies  authorized to eradicate corruption; (ii) supervise the agencies authorized to eradicate corruption; (iii) conduct investigations, interrogations and prosecutions with respect to corruption; (iv) take steps to prevent corruption; and (v) monitor the management of government.

The Corruption Court is one of Indonesia’s public courts and is located in the Central Jakarta District Court with jurisdiction over the entire territory of the Republic of Indonesia.  It is authorized to examine and rule on corruption offences committed by Indonesian citizens both within and outside the Republic of Indonesia. 

In 2006, Law No. 30 of 2002 which created the corruption court was accused of being contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (UUD 1945). The case was heard by the Constitutional Court which held, among others, that Article 53 of Law No. 30 of 2002 contradicts Article 24 A (5) of UUD 1945 which states that “the structure, status, membership, and judicial procedures of the Supreme Court and its subsidiary judicial bodies shall be regulated by law”. Therefore the law on the Corruption Court should have been regulated separately, not as part of Law No. 30 of 2002.

Under Decision of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia No. 012-016-019/PUU-IV/2006 dated 19 December 2006, the corruption court will have to be disbanded unless a new law establishing a new Corruption Court is enacted within 3 (three) years as of the announcement of the decision, ie by no later than by 19 December 2009.  According to the Constitutional Court’s judgment, the law on the Corruption Court should be enacted before the new Government resulting from the 2009 National General Election is formed.

If the law on the Corruption Court is not enacted within this time limit, the Corruption Court will be dismissed and corruption cases handled by the KPK will be tried in the normal public courts. It is often stated that the public courts are not enthusiastic about the eradication of corruption.  According to a survey by Indonesian Corruption Watch in 2008, more than half the corruption cases tried by the public courts were dismissed, ie of 444 defendants tried by the public courts, 277 defendants (62.38 %) were found not guilty, while the remaining defendants or 167 defendants (37.61 %) were sentenced.  However the punishment that was meted out did not have much of an impact on the defendants.  Those convicted were given prison sentences of an average of 15 months, whereas under the Corruption Court in 2008, 31 defendants were tried and all were found guilty and sentenced to an average of 50 months or 4 years in prison.  This has increased public trust in the Corruption Court over the public courts for trying corruption cases and has certainly created a significant impact given the high ‘success rate’ in terms of convictions.  Many people hope that the law on the Corruption Court will be enacted before the deadline so that the Corruption Court will not be disbanded. However, it would certainly be true to say that there are parties in Indonesia whose interest does not lie in the operation of efficient and effective courts for trying corruption cases.