Students of the Law Faculty of IAIN Purwokerto visiting the Constitutional Court on Tuesday (9/10) in the Constitutional Court’s Delegation Room. Photo by Humas MK.

Constitutional Court researcher Anna Triningsih explained the history of the Constitutional Court to law students of IAIN Purwokerto on Tuesday (9/10/2018). She said that the Constitutional Court was established after the Reform, on August 13, 2003 based on the third amendment to the 1945 Constitution. “So, it can be said that the Court is a product of the Reform,” she said before 47 students.

The Constitutional Court, Anna added, has four authorities and one obligation based on the 1945 Constitution. The authorities are to examine laws against the 1945 Constitution, decide upon authority disputes between state institutions whose authorities were granted the 1945 Constitution, decide upon the dissolution of political parties, and decide on disputes over the results of general elections. The obligation of the Constitutional Court is to make decisions related to alleged violations committed by the president and/or vice president.

The authority to review laws, said Anna, means the Court does not judge the implementation of laws. Judicial review cases are the most filed cases to the Constitutional Court, authority disputes cases are still below fifty. She also said that there hasn’t been any petition to dissolve political parties and impeachment the president.

Anna also explained that the Court reviews cases regarding the results of both the general elections and local elections. However, in the future, the Court will not handle the local election disputes because it will be held by another special body.

She said that the Court consists of nine constitutional justices, who represent three branches of state power. “Three people are proposed by the President, three people by the House of Representatives (DPR), and three people by the Supreme Court (MA),” she explained.

In the Q&A session, student Riska Nur Maharani asked whether the selection committee of constitutional justices may be among those who have litigated in the Constitutional Court. Anna said that the Court does not interfere in the matter of forming the committee. “The committee is formed by the president and [the Constitutional Court] accepts the results of the justice selection by the selection committee. In practice, it doesn\'t matter if any persons in the committee have litigated in the Court,”
she explained.

Another student asked about the supervisory process at the Court. Anna revealed that there is an ethics council at the Constitutional Court. Its job is to oversee the conduct and behavior of the constitutional justices. “The general public can also participate, for example by reporting justices who are suspected of violating ethics. This is reported directly to the ethics council,” she said. (Arif/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti