Expert presented by the Petitioner, Syaiful Ahmad Dinar gives his statement at the Hearing of judicial review on Article 31 paragraph (1) of Law No. 32 Year 2004 Concerning Regional Government in the Constitutional Court, Monday (18/10).
Jakarta, MKOnline – Hearing of judicial review on Article 31 paragraph (1) of Law No. 32 Year 2004 Concerning Regional Government was held by the Constitutional Court on Monday (18/10) morning, at the plenary court room of the Constitutional Court. The agenda of hearing was to hear the statement from the Government, the People’s Legislative Assembly, experts and witnesses. The petition under case number 53/PUU-VIII/2010 was filed by the Regent of Lampung Timur, Satono.
Appear at the hearing, attorneys of the Petitioner, Andi M. Asrun and Merlina and attorneys of the Related Party, Bahtiar Sitanggang et al. Also present was from the Government: Legal Bureau of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Legal Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs, among others were Mualimin Abdi, Suarno, Sudan Arif F and several other staff members, while the representative of the People’s Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia was absent from the hearing.
The Article subject to judicial review reviewed states, ”Regional head and/or vice regional head shall be temporary dismissed by the President without the motion from the Regional People’s Legislative Assembly for being indicted with criminal act of corruption, criminal act of terrorism, subversion and/or criminal act against State security.”
In its statement, the Government stated that the regulation set forth in Article 31 paragraph (1) of the Regional Government Law is within the context of developing the government administrators at the regional level. “Philosophically, the Article contains moral values, namely, to actualize justice, certainty and social usefulness,” the Government stated.
“To actualize a clean, dignified and accountable government. That is why this policy is taken, namely for the interest of the relevant person and protect the honor of the institution,” the Government’s representative added.
In addition to that, the Government also requested the Court to give a consistent decision. According to the Government, the legal issue and construction of the Article being reviewed by the Petitioner in principal has similarities with the judicial review by the Constitutional Court in case 152/PUU-VII/2009. “We request the Court to provide a decision consistent with the previously existing legal decision. In the decision, the Court rejected the Petitioner’s petition.”
Violating the Constitution
On this occasion, the Petitioner presented an Expert, in Criminal Law, namely Syaiful Ahmad Dinar. According to Syaiful, in principle, regulation in the Article has violated the principles of presumption of innocence, legal certainty as well as human rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Ideally, Syaiful continued, in order to guarantee legal certainty, a person may only be dismissed from his office upon receiving a binding decision from the court. “The way I see it, (in this context) the Law has given the verdict,” he said. “While in many cases, a person who already has the status as a defendant is eventually not proven by law,” he added.
In addition to that, Syaiful also reminded that in reviewing the Article, the Court needs to consider the constituent who had given their votes through the process of Regional Head Elections process. “There are constitutional rights of the public who had given their votes,” he reminded.
Similar to the Petitioner, the Related Party, Regent of Bone Bolango Agung Haris Najamudin, presented three witnesses to explain that the Article has an impact on the process of the administration of regional government. “The Related Party Petitioner has undergone the legal process for 21 months,” said witness Pata Agung who is also one of the Related Party’s attorneys. (Dodi/mh)
Monday, October 18, 2010 | 16:31 WIB 233