Wirjono was born in
Surakarta,
Dutch East Indies, on 15 June 1903. After completing his primary education, he attended the Rechtsschool in
Batavia, graduating in 1922. He then became a judge, later taking time to study at
Leiden University in
Leiden,
Netherlands. Although Wirjono had already announced his candidacy for the
People's Representative Council, in early 1952 he was selected as head justice of the Indonesian Supreme Court, replacing
Kusumah Atmaja. During his time as head justice, the court was explicitly under the
executive branch of the government. He was increasingly marginalized; for example, when he accompanied the Indonesian president to the
United States in 1959, he sat with senators and congressmen, while his American counterpart,
Earl Warren, was seated with Presidents
Sukarno and
Dwight D. Eisenhower. In another case, Sukarno invited
Ruslan Abdulgani to breakfast when Abdulgani was supposed to be before the court as a slight to the court's powers. In 1960, Wirjono was appointed to the cabinet. Initially stating that his appointment would not affect the
separation of powers, when Sukarno did away with the legal concept Wirjono felt tricked and considered resigning. Towards the end of
Sukarno's regime, Wirjono continued to garner greater power. Together with Minister of Justice
Sahardjo, Wirjono argued for greater protection of the freedoms of criminals and suspects; this eventually won general support, as the populace was displeased with the poor performance of Prosecutor General
Goenawan. The two then moved to
civil law reform; Wirjono strongly supported Sahardjo's suggestion to rescind the current civil and commercial codes. However, this was opposed by advocates and judges; the advocates and judges argued that said proposal would increase legal uncertainty, while Wirjono argued that little would change as much had already been replaced. Wirjono eventually propagated a circular on 5 September 1963 that declared seven articles that were to be considered invalid, involving gifts, rentals, and legitimation of children born out of wedlock. Wirjono later replaced
Astrawinata to become the Minister of Justice in the
Second Revised Dwikora Cabinet, serving from 28 March to 25 July 1966. After
Suharto took greater control of the government, Wirjono was replaced by
Umar Seno Aji. Wirjono died in April 1985. ==Legal acts==