Raising Judge's Salary To Prevent Corruption Is Called Too Simplifying

A resident sat in an empty courtroom because the judge postponed the court at the Surabaya District Court, East Java, Monday (7/10/2024). (ANTARA/Dik Suhartono/nym/pri)

JAKARTA The demands of thousands of judges regarding the welfare and security of judges have been in the spotlight in recent days. The judge's salary in Indonesia is reportedly not increasing for 12 years.

At least 1,748 judges who are members of the Indonesian Judge Solidarity (SHI) took collective leave for a week on October 4-11. This movement is a form of protest against the neglect of welfare, especially judges in Indonesia.

SHI, which consists mostly of judges who are in class IIIb, demanded changes to Government Regulation No. 94 of 2012 which is no longer in accordance with the current workload of the judges.

Since 2012, the basic salary and allowance for judges in Indonesia have not increased, even to just adjust annual inflation. In Indonesia, the nominal take home payment between the Supreme Court judge and the judges below is quite significant.

According to SHI, Supreme Court justices can receive revenue of up to Rp. 500 million or more per month because there is a Case Handling Allowance. Meanwhile, the lowest court judge only pocketed a home pay of around Rp. 12 million to Rp. 14 million per month, depending on the jumah of the day of entry for daily food and transport money, and without additional allowances no matter how many cases were handled.

The judges' salaries in Indonesia are said to be very different from neighboring countries. In Malaysia, for example, judges at the Malaya, Sabah, and Serawa High Courts get a salary of Rp. 87,448,917 per month. That does not include additionals such as tens of millions of rupiah and a regional allowance of 10 percent of the basic salary per month.

In the Philippines, judges at the First Level (Municipal Trial Court, Municipal Circuit Trial Court, and Sharia Circuit Court) pocketed IDR 49,047,602 per month. If added with various benefits, judges in the Philippines can get IDR 671,397,047 each year. Meanwhile, in India, judges in the High Court get a salary of IDR 47,413,483 per month.

In his demands, SHI conveyed that with an average inflation rate of 4.1 percent every year, the allowance for a proper judge's position for 2024 is 242 percent of what is currently in effect.

"This is the minimum number to adapt to the current economic conditions," said SHI's statement.

Criminal law observer Farizal Pranata Bahri does not rule out the fact that judges in regions or districts do have welfare that is far from feasible. In addition, they also still have to be burdened with various additional costs to survive.

"Such as the cost of renting a house and transportation if you want to visit back to the area of origin," said Farizal when contacted by VOI.

In other countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia, judges also receive communication allowances and communication tools such as a mobile phone and tax facilitated by the state. Malaysia also provides home allowances complete with furniture and maintenance and free space or a house rental worth almost Rp. 10 million, official car facilities along with fuel, and private drivers. Farizal assessed that Indonesia needs to imitate what justices in neighboring countries get.

"The welfare referred to here is like a decent residence, adequate transportation allowances and food money to be increased," he added.

Similarly, criminal law observer at Padjadjaran University (Unpad) Lies Sulistiani said, there needs to be a good solution for judges regarding the demand for a salary and allowance increase, so that it does not become a prolonged problem. This condition, according to Lies, also shows that the judiciary world in Indonesia is still colored by many problems, which among other things is the matter of the welfare of judges.

"Therefore, it is important to pay attention to its welfare, it is also important for this country and the entire nation to continuously maintain the honor and dignity and behavior of judges," Lies explained.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) noted that in the 2010-2022 range, 21 judges were caught in bribery and corruption cases. Meanwhile, in the 2022-2024 period, two Supreme Court justices were also caught in fraud. Supreme Court Justice Sudrajad Dimyati has been found guilty of accepting bribes of around Rp800 million. Meanwhile, Supreme Court justice Gazalba Saleh is currently undergoing trial on suspicion of accepting bribes of Rp37 billion.

In a trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court last September, the public prosecutor said that Gazalba received an income of Rp. 6.2 billion from December 2017 to November 2022.Citra Maulana, an employee of the Supreme Court who testified in the case, confirmed the figure called the prosecutor.

President-elect for the 2024-2029 period Prabowo Subianto admitted that he was surprised by the salaries received by the judges. He said this by telephone with the Deputy Speaker of the DPR and the Daily Chairperson of Gerindra Sufmi Dasco Ahmad in the midst of an audience with the DPR leadership with SHI.

He explicitly promised to increase the remuneration or salary of the judges if they had been sworn in. Prabowo emphasized that strengthening the position of judges needed to be done to eliminate corruption, so judges could not be bribed.

Prabowo made a similar statement in the 2024 presidential election, saying that the increase in salaries, one of which was for judges, was a solution to prevent corruption, bribery, and nepotism.

Farizal Pranata Bahri believes that welfare is the main key as an effort to keep judges away from disgraceful behavior.

"For this reason, the state must guarantee and improve the welfare of judges as the last guard of the people seeking justice," he said.

However, a different opinion was expressed by Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), assessing Prabowo's idea of simplifying the problem too much. Emerson Yuntho, who at that time led ICW, said the judge's salary was relatively high, especially when compared to the police. Two years before the 2014 presidential election, the judge's salary had just risen, through the ratification of PP 94/2012. Prior to 2012, the judge's salary was last raised by the government in 2000.

"Gaji sebesar apapun tanpa diimbangi perbaikan sistem, seperti pembinaan dan pengawasan, tidak memberikan dampak apapun," kata Emerson saat itu.