Hall of Constitutional Court’s (MK) ambience was lively on Tuesday (12/2), as 35 master program students of law from Gadjah Mada University visited the Court. Accompanied by their lecture Joko Sutiono, the students were welcomed by Justice Marida Farida Indrati.   

In the occurrence, Maria said that the notion of Constitutional Court was ignited at first to the question of can a law reviewed. “We inherited the Dutch law, but it cannot be reviewed due to the parliament supremacy principle,” said the first woman to serve as Constitutional Court.   

Maria added, the stipulation of judicial review has appeared date back to the independence era. “But there were some questions, we tend to inherit distribution of power system and as new state such mechanism is still far-fetched,” Maria said

In Indonesia, Constitutional Court was established in 2003 as result of third Constitution amendment. Now amidst long and winding road, The Court stands ten-year-old consistently actuating its duties and glorifies 1945 Constitution.

 “For that basis, MK has annulled one of its authorities in deciding over regional election (pilkada) disputes. According to Article 22 E 1945 Constitution, pilkada is deemed no longer part of general election regime,” said the state administration expert.

Constitutional Complaint

After the explanation, the event proceeds to discussion session in which the students are allowed to address their concerns. Rivai, one of the students asked about the authority of constitutional complaint.

Answering their questions, Maria said constitutional complaint is commonly found to MK’s counterparts in advanced countries, Russia and Republic of Korea are names on the list. The authority access Constitutional Court to convert constitution norms in the name of human rights supremacy.

However, according to Maria, the authority hasn’t been adjudicated in 1945 Constitution. She added, the process will be way too long, another amendment is required and our domestic constitution culture is not there yet. “The authority can only be applied if everything is set and firmed,” she said. Nonetheless, she admitted several petitions tend to jostle constitutional complaint indirectly.