Anti-corruption reform in indonesia: an obituary?

Abstract

Indonesia's Anti-Corruption Court had until recently convicted all the defendants brought before it by the Corruption Eradication Commission. Many of these were well-known and politically powerful figures. Yet both the Court and the Commission are under threat. Between February and October 2011, the Anti-Corruption Courts issued more than 20 acquittals, and on 11 October 2011, for the first time, a defendant prosecuted by the KPK itself was acquitted. This article traces the history of the Court and the Commission and explains why their fall may be imminent. Both institutions have been the targets of efforts to discredit and hobble them, apparently orchestrated by people the Commission has investigated. If the current trend continues, the Anti-Corruption Court and the Corruption Eradication Commission may soon join the growing list of Indonesia's failed anti-corruption initiatives.

Keywords:

• corruption
• governance
• rent seeking
• bribery

Notes

¹law.Constitutional Court Decision No. 012-016-019/PUU-IV/2006

²Constitutional Court Decision No. 133/PUU-VII/2009

³Decision No. 1532/PIDB/2009/PN.JKT.SEL

⁴Supreme Court Decision No. 1429 K/Pid/2010

⁵The following description draws from pp. 58–61 of Judge Surya Jaya's judgment

⁶‘Komnas to probe Antasari trial process’, Jakarta Post, 31/1/2011

⁷For a discussion of the Abdullah case, see Kong and Ramayandi (2008).