Indonesia set to ratify changes to controversial top court

Indonesia is set to pass a revision to its constitutional court law, legislators have confirmed, ushering in changes that legal experts say will threaten the independence of the judiciary in the world’s third-largest democracy.
The proposed amendment will reduce the tenure of justices from 15 to 10 years, and require those who have served more than five years to obtain approval from appointing institutions to continue their tenure.
Constitutional Court judges are appointed by the president, parliament and Supreme Court.
The revision also includes changes to the composition of the ethics council that oversees the court, proposing the addition of the president, and members of the parliament and supreme court.
The amendments have sparked strong criticism from some legal experts.
“These changes will ruin the independence of the constitutional court,” said Bivitri Susanti, from Indonesia’s Jentera School of Law,