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Supreme Court to Create Maritime Crimes Division
Jakarta. In a bid to boost maritime law enforcement, Indonesia’s Supreme Court aims to establish, by the end of the year, a new division that specifically oversees cases related to the sea and fisheries.
“Law enforcement in the maritime and fisheries sector has a wide application, so having a fisheries court will help delineate the boundaries because there are a lot of issues we must deal with concerning maritime and fisheries cases,” Abdullah, head of the research and education bureau at the Supreme Court, said in a statement obtained by the Jakarta Globe on Monday.
Abdullah acknowledged that imposing regulations for illegal activities that occur in the country’s vast waters would be a difficult task for a number of reasons, including minimum human and financial resources, limited maritime-law expertise, and lack of coordination between ministries and agencies.
“There has never been a judge appointed to focus on fisheries. The same judges that deal with corruption cases also deal with maritime cases as they come up,” Abdullah said.
The Supreme Court expects to have a legal division that will include specialized legal experts and create a technical training module by December at the latest, according to the statement.
Bobby Rahman, a legal expert with the United Nations Development Program, has supported the forming of a fisheries court and also noted that the state must have more effective rules for offenses perpetrated in Indonesian waters.
“There are so many violations in the maritime and fisheries sector, such as bribery, graft and tax evasion,” Bobby said. “In addition, Indonesia has been negligent when it comes to maritime law, the flow of goods across international borders, customs, oil and gas, and environmental preservation. Strengthening law enforcement and establishing a fisheries court are an absolute must.”
Bobby also called on the Supreme Court to include more governmental stakeholders to help the new body with handling maritime crimes and advance the court’s expertise on maritime law.
Presidential priority
President Joko Widodo has been leading the campaign to protect Indonesia’s waters from illegal actions since he took office last October, resulting in a strict policy of scuttling foreign boats found guilty of breaking the law in Indonesian waters.
Monday’s statement also mentioned that Maluku, in eastern Indonesia, is the province with the highest number of maritime offenses.
“Most of the violations take place in the Aru archipelago in Maluku,” said Yunus Husein, deputy chair for the task force on illegal fishing prevention and eradication at the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry. He added that illegal work permits and human trafficking accounted for 95 percent of the offenses.
The latest, large-scale violation was exposed when an Associated Press investigation revealed hundreds of foreign workers, mainly from Myanmar, had worked in captivity without pay and in many cases had been subjected to torture.
The AP reported that the Myanmar workers had been forced to work 22 hours a day, whipped with toxic stingray tails, denied pay, and forbidden from returning to their home country or telling anyone about their plight. Some were allegedly held in cages.
Supreme Court to Create Maritime Crimes Division - The Jakarta Globe
Jakarta. In a bid to boost maritime law enforcement, Indonesia’s Supreme Court aims to establish, by the end of the year, a new division that specifically oversees cases related to the sea and fisheries.
“Law enforcement in the maritime and fisheries sector has a wide application, so having a fisheries court will help delineate the boundaries because there are a lot of issues we must deal with concerning maritime and fisheries cases,” Abdullah, head of the research and education bureau at the Supreme Court, said in a statement obtained by the Jakarta Globe on Monday.
Abdullah acknowledged that imposing regulations for illegal activities that occur in the country’s vast waters would be a difficult task for a number of reasons, including minimum human and financial resources, limited maritime-law expertise, and lack of coordination between ministries and agencies.
“There has never been a judge appointed to focus on fisheries. The same judges that deal with corruption cases also deal with maritime cases as they come up,” Abdullah said.
The Supreme Court expects to have a legal division that will include specialized legal experts and create a technical training module by December at the latest, according to the statement.
Bobby Rahman, a legal expert with the United Nations Development Program, has supported the forming of a fisheries court and also noted that the state must have more effective rules for offenses perpetrated in Indonesian waters.
“There are so many violations in the maritime and fisheries sector, such as bribery, graft and tax evasion,” Bobby said. “In addition, Indonesia has been negligent when it comes to maritime law, the flow of goods across international borders, customs, oil and gas, and environmental preservation. Strengthening law enforcement and establishing a fisheries court are an absolute must.”
Bobby also called on the Supreme Court to include more governmental stakeholders to help the new body with handling maritime crimes and advance the court’s expertise on maritime law.
Presidential priority
President Joko Widodo has been leading the campaign to protect Indonesia’s waters from illegal actions since he took office last October, resulting in a strict policy of scuttling foreign boats found guilty of breaking the law in Indonesian waters.
Monday’s statement also mentioned that Maluku, in eastern Indonesia, is the province with the highest number of maritime offenses.
“Most of the violations take place in the Aru archipelago in Maluku,” said Yunus Husein, deputy chair for the task force on illegal fishing prevention and eradication at the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry. He added that illegal work permits and human trafficking accounted for 95 percent of the offenses.
The latest, large-scale violation was exposed when an Associated Press investigation revealed hundreds of foreign workers, mainly from Myanmar, had worked in captivity without pay and in many cases had been subjected to torture.
The AP reported that the Myanmar workers had been forced to work 22 hours a day, whipped with toxic stingray tails, denied pay, and forbidden from returning to their home country or telling anyone about their plight. Some were allegedly held in cages.
Supreme Court to Create Maritime Crimes Division - The Jakarta Globe