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For decades, Indonesians have regarded the Indonesian judiciary as one of their nation’s most corrupt institutions. 1 Surveys indicate that its reputation, ironically, has been for its propensity to act illegally, rather than its capacity to enforce the law, let alone deliver ‘justice’(Asia Foundation and ACNielsen Indonesia 2001). Popular belief has it that most of Indonesia’s judges and court officials are willing to accept, or even to extort, bribes from litigants to secure victory in their cases, with the Supreme Court seen as one of the most corrupt courts in the country. The Indonesian joke–which even judges tell–has the word hakim (judge) as short for hubungi aku kalau ingin menang (contact me if you want to win). 2

It is also often said in Indonesia that corruption within the judiciary is systematic and institutionalized: illicit payments are filtered into patronage networks within which the recipient’s superiors take percentages. For …