The Constitutional Justice Maria Farida Indarti welcoming the Study Group visit of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Students of Universitas Nasional Jakarta, on Thursday (10/21).
Jakarta, MKOnline – The Constitutional Court does not only enforce justice based on just normative laws, because the enforcement of substantive laws is the most important. It was conveyed by the Constitutional Justice Maria Farida Indarti when she received the Study Group visit of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Students of National University, Jakarta, on Thursday (10/21), at the Constitutional Court Building.
On that occasion, Maria explained the background of the establishment of the Constitutional Court. Maria explained that at the beginning, the discourse on the establishment of the Constitutional Court started from the case of Marbury and Madison in 1803. Meanwhile in Indonesia, the discourse on the establishment of an institution for reviewing laws was started when Muhammad Yamin suggested the need for a Supreme Council to compare laws. However, the discourse was rejected by Soepomo who argued that Indonesia, at that time, was a new state and still growing, thus an institution for reviewing laws was not required yet.
Subsequently, the idea of the Constitutional Court was adopted into the amendment to the constitution made by the People’s Consultative Assembly in 2001 as formulated in the provisions of Article 24 paragraph (2), Article 24C and Article 7B of the 1945 Constitution resulting from the Third Amendment ratified on November 9, 2001. “Therefore, on August 15, 2003 based on Decree of the President Number 147/M Year 2003, the Constitutional Court was established,” Maria explained.
Maria also explained about the authority of the Constitutional Court as set forth in Article 24C of the 1945 Constitution, namely deciding on the winding-up of a political party, hearing the dispute between state institutions, the authority of which is regulated in the 1945 Constitution, settling electoral disputes, and deciding on the case of impeachment of the President and/or Vice President. Maria said that the authority to settle electoral disputes was just received by the Constitutional Court on November 1, 2008 from the Supreme Court. “In 2010, out of 246 Regional Head General Elections, the Constitutional Court has heard 198 cases and decided on 181 cases,” she explained.
Out of some authority of the Constitutional Court, according to Maria, the Constitutional Court has never performed the authority to wind-up a Political Party and to perform impeachment. Maria also talked about the important requirements for becoming a Constitutional Court. According to Maria, the key requirement is having flawless integrity and personality. Maria continued that it may be assessed by the community. The other requirement is just which can be seen from the decision of the Constitutional Justice. “Another requirement is that the Constitutional justice must be a statesman. It means that every consideration proposed has been examined fairly. The requirement is applicable only to the Constitutional Justice,” she said. (Lulu A./mh)
Thursday, October 21, 2010 | 15:54 WIB 297