Bridging Islamic Legal Ethics and Humanitarian Values in Judicial Governance: Exploring the Ethical Role of Indonesia’s Judicial Commission in Preserving Integrity and Human Dignity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64268/jilhs.v1i2.54Keywords:
Constitutional Justice Reform, Ethical Oversight, Judicial Accountability, Judicial Commission of Indonesia, Judicial IntegrityAbstract
Background: Judicial integrity serves as the moral backbone of justice and the cornerstone of citizens’ confidence in legal institutions. The establishment of Indonesia’s Judicial Commission reflects a constitutional intent to secure ethical accountability and maintain the dignity of the judiciary.
Aims: This study explores the ways in which the Judicial Commission safeguards the ethical and professional standards of judges while examining its influence on rebuilding public trust in the judicial process.
Methods: Adopting a qualitative legal framework through extensive library research, the analysis draws from constitutional articles, legislative texts, and academic writings to develop a normative interpretation of how independent oversight enhances judicial ethics and integrity.
Result: The inquiry reveals that the Judicial Commission operates under two principal duties: recommending appointments and supervising judges’ conduct. Although institutional limitations and jurisdictional overlaps with the Supreme Court persist, the Commission contributes meaningfully to transparency, accountability, and ethical discipline within the judiciary. Constructive coordination between both institutions remains crucial to preserve judicial independence and legitimacy.
Conclusion: Maintaining integrity in the judiciary requires more than procedural compliance; it calls for moral awareness and collaborative governance. Indonesia’s experience illustrates that consistent ethical supervision can elevate judicial credibility, strengthen the rule of law, and nurture enduring public confidence. Continued empowerment of the Judicial Commission is essential for realizing justice grounded in ethics and integrity.
References
Armaly, M. T. (2021). Loyalty over Fairness: Acceptance of Unfair Supreme Court Procedures. Political Research Quarterly, 74(4), 927–940. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920944470 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920944470
Awale, A. A., Abdullahi, F. A., & Kulmie, D. A. (2025). Understanding the Realities of Financial Crime in Public Institutions: Female Public Servants’ Insights. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 15(1), 319–329. https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.17417 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.17417
Bozçalı, F. (2024). Proving injustice: Smuggler killings, impunity work, and vernacular counterforensics in Turkey’s Kurdish borderlands. American Anthropologist, 126(4), 567–580. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.28015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.28015
Chakrabarti, M., Fabozzi, F. J., Narain, A., & Sood, A. (2025). Ethical AI in Asset Management: Frameworks for Transparency, Compliance, and Trust. Journal of Financial Data Science, 7(1), 18–35. https://doi.org/10.3905/jfds.2025.7.1.018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3905/jfds.2025.7.1.018
Comeau, D. S., Bitterman, D. S., & Celi, L. A. (2025). Preventing unrestricted and unmonitored AI experimentation in healthcare through transparency and accountability. Npj Digital Medicine, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01443-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01443-2
Donley, N., Bullard, R. D., Economos, J., Figueroa, I., Lee, J., Liebman, A. K., Martinez, D. N., & Shafiei, F. (2022). Pesticides and environmental injustice in the USA: Root causes, current regulatory reinforcement and a path forward. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 708. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13057-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13057-4
Evans, M. I., & Britt, D. W. (2023). Resistance to Change. Reproductive Sciences, 30(3), 835–853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-022-01015-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-022-01015-9
Formosa, P., Wilson, M., & Richards, D. (2021). A principlist framework for cybersecurity ethics. Computers & Security, 109, 102382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2021.102382 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2021.102382
Fotoh, L. E., & Mugwira, T. (2025). Exploring Large Language Models in external audits: Implications and ethical considerations. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100748 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100748
Gisbert, R. B. (2022). Judicial Independence in European Constitutional Law. European Constitutional Law Review, 18(4), 591–620. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1574019622000347 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1574019622000347
Grogan, J. (2022). COVID-19, The Rule of Law and Democracy. Analysis of Legal Responses to a Global Health Crisis. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 14(2), 349–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-022-00168-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-022-00168-8
Haag, L., Starke, G., Ploner, M., & Ienca, M. (2025). Ethical gaps in closed-loop neurotechnology: A scoping review. Npj Digital Medicine, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01908-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01908-4
Kerr, N., & Wahman, M. (2021). Electoral Rulings and Public Trust in African Courts and Elections. Comparative Politics, 53(2), 257–290. https://doi.org/10.5129/001041521X15930293747844 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5129/001041521X15930293747844
Kovalčík, M. (2022). The instrumental abuse of constitutional courts: How populists can use constitutional courts against the opposition. The International Journal of Human Rights, 26(7), 1160–1180. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2022.2108017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2022.2108017
Krewson, C. N. (2023). Political Hearings Reinforce Legal Norms: Confirmation Hearings and Views of the United States Supreme Court. Political Research Quarterly, 76(1), 418–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129221094877 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129221094877
Kristiana, Y., & Hutahayan, B. (2024). Judicial Corruption in the Post-Reform Era: Assessing the Effectiveness of Legal Reforms in Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718123-bja10208 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718123-bja10208
Kuguyo, O., Matimba, A., Mutevedzi, F., Chimatira, A., Chikwasha, V., Kangwende, A., Gwanzura, L., & Ndebele, P. (2025). Strengthening ethical oversight in genomics and biobanking: A retrospective analysis of research practices in Zimbabwe. BMC Medical Ethics, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-025-01257-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-025-01257-7
Liu, J., Shahab, Y., & Hoque, H. (2022). Government Response Measures and Public Trust during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Around the World. British Journal of Management, 33(2), 571–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12577 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12577
Loi, M., Hauser, C., & Christen, M. (2022). Highway to (Digital) Surveillance: When Are Clients Coerced to Share Their Data with Insurers? Journal of Business Ethics, 175(1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04668-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04668-1
Magalhães, P. C., & Garoupa, N. (2024). Populist governments, judicial independence, and public trust in the courts. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(9), 2748–2774. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2235386 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2235386
Marín, Y. R., Caro, O. C., Rituay, A. M. C., Llanos, K. A. G., Perez, D. T., Bardales, E. S., Tuesta, J. N. A., & Santos, R. C. (2025). Ethical Challenges Associated with the Use of Artificial Intelligence in University Education. Journal of Academic Ethics, 23(4), 2443–2467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-025-09660-w DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-025-09660-w
Martufi, A. (2022). Effective judicial protection and the European arrest warrant: Navigating between procedural autonomy and mutual trust. Common Market Law Review, 59(5). https://kluwerlawonline.com/api/Product/CitationPDFURL?file=JournalsCOLACOLA2022095.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.54648/COLA2022095
Mezzadri, D. (2025). The Paradox of Ethical AI-Assisted Research. Journal of Academic Ethics, 23(4), 2653–2667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-025-09671-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-025-09671-7
Miliuvienė, J. (2024). How to avoid constitutional court-packing in an era of democratic backsliding: Reflections on the appointment of constitutional judges. https://doi.org/10.1556/2052.2024.00530 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/2052.2024.00530
Mukhlis, M. M., Maskun, Tajuddin, M. S., Andriani, D., Muchtasar, R., & Masum, A. (2025). Regional Government Autonomy in Indonesia: The Ambiguity of the Federalism of Republic Model. Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, 13, 35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33102/mjsl.vol13no1.760
Nam, B. H., & Bai, Q. (2023). ChatGPT and its ethical implications for STEM research and higher education: A media discourse analysis. International Journal of STEM Education, 10(1), 66. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00452-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00452-5
Ono, Y., & Zilis, M. A. (2022). Ascriptive Characteristics and Perceptions of Impropriety in the Rule of Law: Race, Gender, and Public Assessments of Whether Judges Can Be Impartial. American Journal of Political Science, 66(1), 43–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12599 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12599
Ranisch, R., & Haltaufderheide, J. (2025). Foundation models in medicine are a social experiment: Time for an ethical framework. Npj Digital Medicine, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01924-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01924-4
Scudder, M. F., Ercan, S. A., & McCallum, K. (2023). Institutional listening in deliberative democracy: Towards a deliberative logic of transmission. Politics, 43(1), 38–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211060691 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211060691
Šipulová, K. (2025). The light and the dark side of judicial resistance. Law & Policy, 47(1), e12247. https://doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12247 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12247
Sulastri, D., Arifin, F., Susanto, A. F., Huda, U. N., & Nor, M. Z. M. (2025). Institutional Integrity and Challenges in the Indonesian Constitutional Court Institution. Jurnal Media Hukum, 32(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.18196/jmh.v32i1.24100 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18196/jmh.v32i1.24100
Susanto, M., Harijanti, S. D., Perwira, I., & Hernawan, M. Y. A. (2025). Constitutional Repair through Opposition Reform: Designing the Right of the Opposition and Incentive Systems to Counter Democratic Deterioration in Indonesia. Jambura Law Review, 7(2), 583–632. https://doi.org/10.33756/jlr.v7i2.29349
Vgontzas, N. (2022). Toward Degrowth: Worker Power, Surveillance Abolition, and Climate Justice at Amazon. New Global Studies, 16(1), 49–67. https://doi.org/10.1515/ngs-2022-0008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ngs-2022-0008
Wiratraman, H. P. (2022). Constitutional Struggles and the Court in Indonesia’s Turn to Authoritarian Politics. Federal Law Review, 50(3), 314–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0067205X221107404 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0067205X221107404
Zhang, Y., Deng, Q., Zheng, X., Xu, X., & Wang, F. (2025). Online continuing education for midwives in China: Current trends, barriers, and future directions. BMC Medical Education, 25(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07180-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07180-0
Zhou, Z., Zhou, X., Zhang, X., & Chen, W. (2025). Judicial Waves, Ethical Shifts: Bankruptcy Courts and Corporate ESG Performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 198(3), 537–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05780-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05780-2
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Urwatul Wutsqah, Mardiyah

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.