Supreme Court Signs MoU Annex with Federal and Family Court of Australia

Chief Justice of Federal Court of Australia:

“Indonesia’s strong commitment to rule of law is well-known in my country”

Jakarta | badilag.net/english (30/7)

Chief Justice Harifin A. Tumpa of the Supreme Court of Indonesia signed an MoU with Chief Justice Michael Black of the Federal Court of Australia (FCA) and with Chief Justice Diana Bryant of the Family Court of Australia (FCoA) Thursday (30/7) at Kusumahatmaja Room, Supreme Court’s office, Jakarta. The MoU is an annex to the previous MoU signed on July 21 2008.

In his address, Chief Justice Harifin A. Tumpa said the Supreme Court of Indonesia had made much progress on ensuring access to justice such as in areas of judicial transparency, case management, information technology development, judgment publication, and supporting poor people to access to justice.

“Those achievements are the result of the strong bond between the Supreme Court and the Federal and Family Court of Australia,” CJ Harifin Tumpa said.

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One obvious effort to ensure access to justice by the Supreme Court was the verdict publication. CJ Tumpa said there were now 13.700 judgments accessible for free. In addition, the Supreme Court had launched an information desk for public access to information from the Court.

The Supreme Court in maintaining its judicial reform was much supported by the surveys of court clients undertaken by IALDF within the Religious Courts in 2007 and the General Courts in 2009. The surveys revealed that there was a high satisfaction rate amongst court users, with over 70% of respondents. Yet, CJ Tumpa asked all court judges and staff to enhance the quality of court’s public service.

Indonesia’s Strong Commitment to the rule of law is well-known.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Michael Black said the MoU was another important step in the history of friendship and cooperation between Australia’s and Indonesia’s Courts. The relationship was a two-way affair.

“For our part we have the benefit of learning about your system – essentially a civil law system – and the way in which you are meeting the challenges,” Chief Justice Black said when giving a speech before signing.

Chief Justice Black explained that the similarities of the Courts were more important than the differences between the systems of the two countries.

“What we have in common is not only that we are all judges, but that we share a commitment to the rule of law and to that great cause of justice according to law,” Black said.

“Indonesia’s strong commitment to the rule of law is well-known in my country,” said the Chief Justice who will be retired next year.

Like her Australian colleague, Chief Justice Diana Bryant illustrated the relationship between the Supreme Court and FCA and FCoA. She mentioned the relationship was the only direct international relationship between superior courts in different countries ever existing in the world.

She said, “I believe this relationship is brightly held up as a model for cooperation between courts from countries with very different cultures.” 

”Our relationship is strong precisely because it is a truly cooperative and reciprocal one,” Justice Bryant said.

CJ Diana Bryant in her speech said there were numerous achievements during 15 year period of cooperation. She underlined two areas to mention. The first was the blueprints for judicial reform. She stated that the document was important and valuable in providing recommendation for judicial reform. One of the recommendations was judgment publication and revitalization of the Court information system.

“I’d like to use ‘publishing court verdicts’ as an example of what two countries, with different histories, cultures and religions, can achieve when working together towards a desired end,” she said.

The second was the decision to carry out a survey of court users in the area of family law undertaken within the Religious Courts of Indonesia in 2007 and the General Courts in 2009.

“As a result of this study, the Supreme Court has increased Religious Courts’ budget 20-fold for free waiver for those who could not afford fees. The budget supplement has also enabled circuit courts to be held in remote areas, to assist those who could not afford to come to court,” CJ Bryant said.

Chief Justice Diana Bryant hoped that the valued relationship with the Supreme Court and the Religious and General Courts that worked in the area of family law could be continued long into the future. (badilag/cho)