Judges: State officials or public servants?

Edi Hudiata

This article published at The Jakarta Post Thu, 04/19/2012

What is the most lucky profession? The ideal answer is to be a judge, because to be a judge is to hold the power of a God. No wonder that judges are referred to as “representatives of God” on earth, merely because any verdict they issue must be obeyed.

But is the welfare of judges in line with their professional title, which sees people call them “Your Honor”?

The question is easily answered if we look at media reports on dozens of judges who demanded a pay rise recently. Last week about 30 judges came to Jakarta as representatives of the corps to realize the vision of the Supreme Court to “achieve the supreme judiciary”.

They want fulfillment of the rights of judges as state officials as stipulated in Article 11 (d) of Law No. 43/1999 on the Principles of Civil Service, which states: “State officials comprise Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, Assistant to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as well as court chiefs, deputy chiefs and judges within the judiciary agency”.

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