Participants of the 2010 Indonesiaâs University Students Advocacy Training, which was held by the Jakarta State University, visited the Constitutional Court on Tuesday (9/11).
Jakarta, MKOnline - Understanding the 1945 Constitution and getting to know the Constitutional Court do not necessarily have to take place in classrooms or through a variety of literatures. Members of community, especially students, can directly visit the Constitutional Court building in order to understand more the Constitutional Court. Participants of the 2010 Indonesia’s University Students Advocacy Training, which was held by the Jakarta State University, chose the latter; they visited the Constitutional Court on Tuesday afternoon (9/11).
As many as 38 university students partaking the training program, the majority of whom were members of Student Executive Boards throughout Indonesia, attended a brief lecture at the press conference room of the Constitutional Court building in Jakarta. The lecture was addressed by a staff member of the Court’s Chief Justice Pan Mohammad Faiz, who presented a paper entitled “The Role of the Constitutional Court in Maintaining Justice Stability in Indonesia.”
At the beginning of his lecture, Faiz explained some changes in the country’s administrative structure (post-reform movement, after the 1945 Constitution being amended). One of the changes, Faiz said, included the absence of the highest state institution in Indonesia’s state institutional structure, as the current structure adopted a system of separation of powers.
“The executive body serves as the executor of laws and regulations. The legislative branch makes and passes law together with the government, and the judicial body sets trials that deal with and try to solve disputes. In this case, the functions of state implementation are executed by separate state agencies under the principles of checks and balances,” Faiz explained.
Also, according to Faiz, now the pendulum of power does not swing only toward the parliament (legislative heavy) or the president (executive heavy) but also toward the constitutional supremacy, as the highest power now lies in such supremacy. He also said, “The 1945 Constitution is the highest law of the land. The sovereignty of the people is no longer controlled or taken entirely into the hands of the People’s Consultative Assembly, yet it is now performed through methods and institutions as determined by the 1945 Constitution,” Faiz said.
Apart from the implications due to such changes, and in addition to the high state institutions that have equal power and authority (there’s no longer the highest state institution) and to the checks and balances system between state agencies, the constitutional supremacy has also resulted in the increased legitimacy of state institutions, and in the increased independence of judges and their authorities, especially when they’re performing their duties of upholding the law.
With that said, according to Faiz, Indonesia’s democracy is a constitutional democracy, or in other words, a constitutional supremacy, where the highest, ultimate power lies fully in the hands of the people, yet is implemented in accordance with the 1945 Constitution. Based on this framework, the Constitutional Court was formed as a court that served as the guardian of the Constitution, so that no one with power could abuse constitutional interpretations. “This is the rule of the game of our state administration system,” Faiz said.
He also detailed the role of the Constitutional Court, saying that the Court blazed the trail of a modern justice system in the country. Faiz offered some of proofs, including the use of e-filing (online system) for any legal applicants, the use of video conferencing facility in trial sessions, advanced academic activities, live video streaming showing trial sessions in progress, timely verdicts that are usually read 15 minutes after judges reaching a decision, etc. Faiz said that the most important thing was that all the facilities provided for the public above were free of charge. “Essentially, we believe that there are no doors that are closed for the seekers of justice. We will try to give our best to the people,” Faiz affirmed. (Dodi)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 | 14:25 WIB 209