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The Chairman of the Constitutional Court (MKRI), Prof. Dr. Jimly Asshiddiqie, S.H. visited Rakyat Merdeka (RM), daily newspapers as part of the media visit program of the institution, on Wednesday, February 14, 2007.  The Chairman accompanied by the Secretary General MKRI Janedjri M. Gaffar, Chair of Public Relations and Protocol Tito Sutjitno and several staff of the Secretariat General and Court Clerk of the MKRI.

 

RM Directors Kiki Iswara and Budi Rahman Hakim as well as editors, members of editorial board, and journalists welcomed the Chairman and delegation. The meeting was going well.

 

In his welcome remark, the Chairman stated that RM has been one of top priorities in the MK Public Relations list of the media visit program.  This was based on considerations, including numbers of readers of the newspapers and visitors to its website. According to Iswara, there were about 1.6 million people visited the website daily.

 

In this meeting, the Chairman described the authority and obligations of MK in Indonesia and around the world. He hoped that his explanations would help increase understanding among journalists about MKRI.

 

The Chairman also asked journalists to assist MK in developing awareness and understanding about the 1945 Constitution in the society. According to him, recently there were many litigious statements concerning the decisions of MKRI. People said that these decisions were controversial and they consciously commented on the substances of the decisions in the mass media.

 

The Chairman emphasized that all MKRI Judges have no right to reply to those comments. He added that “when a decision was already read, it was automatically owned by public. We, the Judges, could not respond to any comment, though it was wrong.” He continued that in other countries, no one made remarks on the substance of a court’s decision. Deep and thorough discussions and commentaries regarding courts’ decisions were normally done in academic law journals. These would be consumed by limited groups in the society, such as lawyers, law students, and academic associations. In addition, mass media usually published the predictions on implications of courts’ decisions. “Ironically, in Indonesia, this kind of tradition does not yet exist,” Said the Chairman.

 

Center for Law and Policy Information

In order to support constitutional socialization and education programs, RM offered the Chairman to open a Constitution Consultation column in RM. The Chairman responded kindly and hoped that the plan would be realized. 

The Chairman also proposed to RM to be involved in the development of center for law and policy project.  The program is to use information technology about laws, constitutions, and courts’ final decisions, as well as local decrees and other policies.   Hopefully, all elements of the mass media would take a part in this project. (NM)

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