Where to now for Corby?

May 27, 2005 - 2:10PM

Associate Professor Tim Lindsey, Director of Asian Law Centre at University of Melbourne, tells theage.com.au what legal options there are now for Schapelle Corby.

Where will she be taken from court?

"She will be taken back to the jail where she is now and probably stay there - the same jail as (Bali bomber) Amrozi."

Can she appeal? If so, to who?

"Absolutely. It's a very complex and detailed appeal process. First of all, she appeals to the High Court in Denpasar, and normally they would hear that within about 150 days. From that court, if she's unsuccessful, she can go to the Supreme Court in Jakarta, and if she's unsuccessful there, she can then seek an internal review, called a PK. That is where a different panel of judges in the same court reviews the appeal decision. She might also have an appeal to the constitutional court if she can find a constitutional argument, but at the moment I don't think she would. She could also appeal to the president for clemency, and the president would then consult the Supreme Court."

Can new evidence be introduced?

"Both the High Court and the Supreme Court can look at new evidence as it comes up. There may be trials of (Sydney) baggage handlers in relation to corruption allegations, and they may produce some evidence which may be useful, so it would be in her interest to stay in Indonesia until her appeal is exhausted at least, which she probably would do. One of the problems is that it could take 18 months to sort out the criminal charges in Australia in relation to the baggage handlers. Her appeal might be over by then."

Are cases often overturned at appeal?

"It's not unknown for the appeals court to reverse lower court decisions, and the Supreme Court in Indonesia is a pretty good court. Indonesian courts had big problems under (former president) Suharto, and they still do, but they have significantly improved and still are improving."

Do prisoners often receive clemency in Indonesia?

"It does happen from time to time, but people usually only receive a reduction in their sentence. People who have received a death sentence will usually seek a commutation to a life sentence. It's not very common for them to receive a complete pardon, but it happens. "

Could Corby serve her sentence in Australia?

"At the moment no, because there is no prisoner exchange agreement in place. The Australian Government is negotiation a prisoner release agreement now as a result of the Corby case it appears, and that will take some time. These are very complex documents because there's two big issues. First of all, what do you do when you get somebody serving a long period of time for something which would be a short period of time if convicted in their home country. Secondly, the remission systems are different between countries. For example, in Indonesia life (imprisonment) means life - you stay in jail until you die - whereas here it generally doesn't mean that. It's these sort of things which have to be negotiated. My expectation is that it will take some time. It's been reported that the Government is seeking a one-off agreement in the case of Corby, which seems to be quite extraordinary, because we've got lots of other Australians convicted overseas. Generally these sort of prisoner exchange agreements require the prisoner spend some time at least in the jail of the foreign country, quite often something like five years at least. But I imagine she would not want to go back immediately because she will be wanting to run her appeal."

- theage.com.au
