Patrialis Akbar (born 31 October 1958) is an advocate and politician who was member of the Constitutional Court Justice of the Indonesian Constitutional Court for the period 2013-2017 from
Padang
Padang () is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. Th ...
,
West Sumatra
West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5,534,472 at the 2020 cen ...
. He has a complete career in three branches of state, legislative, executive and judicial power. He had served as a member of the House of Representatives for two periods (1999–2004 and 2004–2009).
Education and early career
He obtained his law degree from the
Muhammadiyah University of Jakarta
Muhammadiyah ( ar, محمدية; 'followers of Muhammad'); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society ( id, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longe ...
and then had a career as an advocate.
Early in his career Patrialis Akbar had worked as a city transportation driver majoring in Pasar Senen-
Jatinegara
Jatinegara (originally known as Meester Cornelis or Meester for short) is one of the districts (''Kecamatan'') of East Jakarta, Indonesia. The name also refers to the larger, historic area of the colonial town of Meester Cornelis. Established i ...
,
Jakarta, and taxi drivers in the capital. After earning a law degree at the University of Muhammadiyah Jakarta, he pursued the lawyer's profession for some time before finally starting to plunge into politics, and joined the
National Mandate Party
The National Mandate Party ( id, Partai Amanat Nasional), frequently abbreviated to PAN, is an Islam-basedAl-Hamdi, Ridho. (2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia''. JURNAL STUDI PEMERINTAHAN (JOURNAL ...
(PAN), which later led him to become a member of the
People's Representative Council(DPR) for two periods 1999-2004 and 2004-2009 from the electoral district of West Sumatra.
While in
Senayan, Patrialis had joined the DPR and the
People's Consultative Assembly(MPR). In the MPR, Patrialis was listed as one of the actors in the amendments to the 1999 - 2002 1945 Constitution by becoming a Member of the BP MPR, PAH III, and PAH I. This PAH III (1999) and PAH I (2000-2002) designed the amendments to the 1945 Constitution. in the DPR, Patrialis was listed as commission III, one of which was in charge of legal matters. During the administration of President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono he was elected
Minister of Law and Human Rights of the
Second United Indonesia Cabinet
The Second United Indonesia Cabinet ( id, Kabinet Indonesia Bersatu II) was inaugurated on 22 October 2009, two days after the inauguration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as President of Indonesia for the second term. The cabinet consists of members ...
. He would eventually become Constitutional Justice after giving his oath of office as a constitutional judge for the term of office from 2013 to 2018 on August 13 at the State Palace, Jakarta.
Justice Minister
Akbar was part of the
Second United Indonesia Cabinet
The Second United Indonesia Cabinet ( id, Kabinet Indonesia Bersatu II) was inaugurated on 22 October 2009, two days after the inauguration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as President of Indonesia for the second term. The cabinet consists of members ...
and served as Minister of Justice and Human Rights in Indonesia from 22 October 2009 until 19 October 2011.
Constitutional Court Justice
In 2013, former President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attempted to appoint Akbar to the
Constitutional Court of Indonesia
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia) is one of the apex courts in Indonesia along with the Indonesian Supreme Court. Its primary role is reviewing the constitutionality of statutes ...
at the end of
Achmad Sodiki's term, but the Jakarta State Administrative Court blocked Akbar's appointment as well as that of his fellow justice
Maria Farida Indrati. Legal activists cited Akbar's poor performance as a minister as well as his personal ties to the president. Yudhoyono's office appealed the ruling on behalf of Akbar and Indrati, succeeding after the Jakarta High Administrative Court found that the petition against Akbar and Indrati lacked legal standing for the challenge.
Alongside
Aswanto, Akbar was one of several judges or former judges who had spoken out in favor of a Constitutional Court ruling to ban premarital sex.
In June 2015, Akbar rejected a judicial review requested by children's rights groups to raise Indonesia's minimum age for marriage for women from 16 to 18. He said there was no guarantee raising the age limit would reduce the incidence of divorce, health problems or social problems.
Corruption arrest and conviction
Akbar's tenure on the Constitutional Court was cut short despite the presidential appeals that had led to his initial appointment. In January 2017, the
Corruption Eradication Commission
Corruption Eradication Commission ( id, Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi), abbreviated as KPK, is an Indonesian government agency established to prevent and fight corruption in the country. Firli Bahuri, an active police general, is the current ch ...
arrested Akbar and 10 other defendants in a sting operation on suspicion of corruption in an animal health law. Constitutional Chief Justice
Arief Hidayat
Arief Hidayat (born 3 February 1956) was the fifth Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia. Previously, he was a professor of law at his alma mater, Diponegoro University.
In January 2017, Hidayat led an investigation of his colleag ...
led an investigation into three justices, clearing fellow justices
Manahan Sitompul and
I Dewa Gede Palguna but finding enough evidence for Akbar's dismissal.
On 4 September 2017, Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Akbar to eight years in jail and fined him Rp300 million. The court found he had accepted bribes from a beef importer in connection with a judicial review of the 2014 Animal Husbandry and Livestock Health Law. Patrialis only received US$10,000 or half of the amount of US$20,000 given
s bribesfrom businessman Basuki Hariman through
iddlemanKamaluddin. In August 2019, the Supreme Court said it had cut Akbar's sentence to seven years in jail, saying there were mitigating circumstances: he had only received half of the bribe money, and he had spent Rp4 million of that money on playing golf with Kamaluddin, the middleman. The Supreme Court judges who cut his sentence were Andi Samsan Nganro, L.L. Hutagalung and Sri Murwahyuni.
References
External links
Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbar, Patrialis
20th-century Indonesian lawyers
1958 births
Living people
Minangkabau people
People from Padang
Government ministers of Indonesia
National Mandate Party politicians
21st-century Indonesian judges