The Constitutional Court held a hearing for the judicial review of Law Number 32 Year 2004 on Regional Government (Regional Government Law) against the 1945 Constitution on Tuesday (12/06). The case number 14/PUU-V/2007 was filed by H. Muhlis Mutu, a prospective candidate for Deputy Regent of Takalar, South Sulawesi.

The hearing which started at 10.00 in the court room of the Constitutional Court was scheduled for the examination of revised petition. The panel hearing was presided over by Soedarsono, S.H., with other members including Prof. Abdul Mukthie Fadjar, S.H., M.S. and I Dewa Gede Palguna, S.H., M.H. as well as the Substitute Registrar, Eddy Purwanto, S.H. 

In this hearing, the Petitioner who was represented by his attorney Januardi S. Haribowo, stated that he has been impaired by the coming into effect of Article 58 Sub-Article f of the Regional Government Law. The provision of the article stated that: “Never been subject to imprisonment based upon a court decision which has binding legal force for committing a criminal offense with maximum sentence of 5 years or more”.

The petitioner is currently running for the position of Deputy Regent for the election region of Takalar Regency, South Sulawesi. However, the nomination is impeded because 25 years ago, he had been sentenced to serve 5 years in prison for the criminal offense he committed.

Apart from that, Januardi explained that there are several revisions in the petition filed by the Petitioner. The revisions have been filed to the Panel of Justices. “On this occasion, we also would like to submit a letter requesting an acceleration of the hearing scheduled for May 31, 2007 to the Panel of Justices because the registration for the local election in South Sulawesi will be closed at the end of June,” said Januardi.

Before adjourning the hearing, the Chairperson of the Panel of Constitutional Justices verified the additional evidences presented by the Petitioner including a copy of the criminal verdict from the Takalar District Court. “We ask the attorney of the Petitioner to present the name of the witnesses or the experts to the Registrar’s Office to be put into the schedule for the next hearing,” said Soedarsono before closing the hearing. (Prana Patrayoga Adiputra)