Washington International Law Journal Volume 25 Number 3 Asian Courts and the Constitutional Politics of the Twenty-First Century 6-1-2016 The Rise and Fall of Historic Chief Justices: Constitutional Politics and Judicial Leadership in Indonesia Stefanus Hendrianto Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wilj Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, and the Judges Commons Recommended Citation Stefanus Hendrianto, The Rise and Fall of Historic Chief Justices: Constitutional Politics and Judicial Leadership in Indonesia, 25 Wash. L. Rev. 489 (2016). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wilj/vol25/iss3/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at UW Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington International Law Journal by an authorized editor of UW Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Compilation © 2016 Washington International Law Journal Association THE RISE AND FALL OF HISTORIC CHIEF JUSTICES: CONSTITUTIONAL POLITICS AND JUDICIAL LEADERSHIP IN INDONESIA By Stefanus Hendrianto † Abstract : In the decade following its inception, the Indonesian Constitutional Court has marked a new chapter in Indonesian legal history, one in which a judicial institution can challenge the executive and legislative branches. This article argues that judicial leadership is the main contributing factor explaining the emergence of judicial power in Indonesia. This article posits that the newly established Indonesian Constitutional Court needed a strong and skilled Chief Justice to build the institution because it had insufficient support from political actors. As the Court lacked a well- established tradition of judicial review, it needed a visionary leader who could maximize the structural advantage of the Court.