Judges are the personification of the judicial institution, which must not only have intellectual capacities when it comes to deciding a case, but also a high level of morality and integrity in order to reflect a sense of justice, guarantee legal certainty and be able to bring benefits to society. When deciding a case, judges must rely on a variety of considerations acceptable to all parties and not deviate from existing legal rules called legal reasoning. Legal reasoning is defined as the search for „reason” in relation to the law or the search for a basis for how a judge decides a legal case or case. Legal reasoning is part of a court decision when it comes to deciding a case. A judge`s legal reasoning may be based on philosophical, legal, sociological or theological aspects that reflect the principles of legal certainty, justice and expediency for the parties, and may apply various methods of interpreting the law. However, in the event that the case to be heard does not exist or is not clear on the legal basis, the judge is still obliged to rule on the case. Therefore, the principle of legality should, in principle, be used as an interim guideline for judges to hear the cases they handle. When formulating, compiling and deciding a case with legal considerations or legal reasoning, judges must be prudent, systematic and with the good and good Indonesian. Careful consideration means that the legal examination must be comprehensive, which must include the facts of events, legal facts, the formulation of legal facts and the application of legal norms both in positive law, customary law, case law, as well as in legal and other theories, on the basis of the aspects and methods of legal interpretation necessary for the compilation of arguments (justifications) or legal bases of the decision.
of the judge. Once the judge has investigated and examined one or more events, it means that he has a „legal problem in resolution” and is obliged to find a solution or answer. This is because in life in society there are the same problems of life. But the judge, as a person who has the competence to give his answer/judgment, must be able to find the law. Therefore, the previous judge must be able to select the problem and then formulate the law. After determining the law of the event or incident, a judge must resolve the legal issues. There are many social problems in society. Among the many social problems, we must be able to find or select the legal problems that must then be formulated and solved. It is not easy to choose legal issues from social issues that often overlap with legal issues and are difficult to reach their limits, such as political issues, moral issues, religious issues, etc.
Here, the ability to select legal problems and then formulate them (identification of legal problems) is important. In order to further refine the legal reasoning in court decisions that theoretically contain the values of justice and truth, judges will likely need to further explore the legal system of continental Europe, which is theoretically more dominant in Indonesia. Judges are bound by laws (written laws) and their legal certainty is ensured by the form and written nature of the statutes. In addition to many of the same cases with different verdicts, one of them is the drug case before the Sidoarjo District Court, which has just occurred. Where the judge ruled on Moh. Wildan was only in prison for 1 year, while Taureq A.M was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison. Although the drugs were bought by Moh. Wildan.
As for the various decisions, the judge had carefully considered, but had not given the family and the media clear reasoning (legal reasoning), which led to criticism and questions. However, it turned out that there were differences in the judgments. Although the prosecutor of the Attorney General`s Office, who is laying charges, has charged him several times, for example, in connection with allegations of corruption, alleged gratuity and money laundering.