On Thursday, July 30, 2026, Indonesia's Judicial Commission reported receiving 1,402 public complaints concerning judges during the first half of the year. That's 10.3% higher than the 1,271 complaints recorded during the same period in 2025. The increase suggests that more people are turning to the commission when they believe a judge's conduct may need to be reviewed.
Vice Chairman Desmihardi said the high number of reports also reflects public expectations that the commission should become more effective in monitoring and enforcing the Code of Ethics and Judicial Conduct. Still, a complaint does not automatically mean that an ethical violation has been established. Each report must first go through administrative and substantive verification.
Of the 1,402 reports, 740 concerned alleged violations of the judicial code of conduct, while 662 required external confirmation. After verification, 676 reports, or 87.37%, were accepted for further handling, while the rest were still being reviewed. A total of 88 reports met the administrative and substantive requirements to be formally registered.
The commission said the number of registered cases is much lower than the total number of complaints because many submissions actually challenge the legal reasoning or substance of court decisions rather than the personal conduct of judges. That distinction matters because the commission's role is focused on judicial ethics and conduct, not on deciding whether a court ruling itself is legally correct.
Civil cases made up the largest share of the complaints related to judicial conduct, with 439 reports. They were followed by 158 criminal cases, 29 administrative court cases, 25 religious cases, 20 industrial relations cases, 17 commercial cases, eight corruption cases, five military cases, two tax cases, and 37 other cases.
Geographically, DKI Jakarta recorded the highest number of reports at 145, followed by West Java with 91, North Sumatra with 73, East Java with 62, Riau with 34, Banten with 30, East Kalimantan with 22, and South Sumatra with 20. By court system, the general courts received the most complaints at 529, followed by religious courts with 64 and the Supreme Court with 63.
The commission has also called 418 people for clarification in connection with 119 reports. Those summoned included complainants or their representatives, witnesses and experts, as well as judges who were reported. The commission held plenary sessions on 207 reports, with 73 ultimately found to be substantiated and recommendations for sanctions issued against 121 judges.
The figure of 1,402 should therefore not be interpreted as 1,402 judges being found guilty of misconduct. It represents the number of public complaints received during the first six months of 2026. Some are still being verified, some concern the substance of court rulings, and only reports that meet the required standards can move forward into an ethics investigation.
