Delegation of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia led by Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah meeting with Secretary General (Director) of the Constitutional Court of Germany, Peter Weigl, Thursday (11/10/2018) in Karlsruhe, Germany. Photo by Humas MK.

Delegation of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia led by Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah met with Secretary General (Director) of the Constitutional Court of Germany, Peter Weigl, Thursday (11/10/2018). The meeting, taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany, had been scheduled to discuss and exchange information on the workflow and management of the judiciary. “The organizational working structure (SOTK) of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia was revised at the end of 2017, and the structure of the Constitutional Court of German is one of its inspirations,” said Guntur opening the discussion.

Guntur added that the position, role, and function of the inspectorate of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia were most inspired by the audit and anticorruption committee of the Constitutional Court of Germany. In response, Peter Weigl expressed his appreciation. He explained that the constitutional complaint authority has led the the Constitutional Court of Germany to work on 6,000-6,500 cases per year.

“With the high number of cases, a system was put in place in which a case is tried by a chamber comprising three constitutional justices, where one justice drafts the ruling. If the justices believe that a case can be decided by the chamber, the case will not be forwarded to the senate, comprising 8 justices,” Peter stressed.

He also explained that a constitutional justice is assisted by four assistants. The assistants are judges in other courts. They provide input and draft the concept of the ruling, which is then forwarded to the constitutional justices.

The Constitutional Court of Indonesia also explained about the facilities it provided justice seekers in various supporting applications, such as simpel.mkri.id, case tracking, and video conference.

In the three-hour meeting, Head of the Judicial Administration Bureau of the Constitutional Court of Germany Voltker Batzke expressed his interest in Pancasila, which is the reference for judicial review.

Collaboration with Max Planck Institute

The day prior, (10/10/2018), the delegation of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia visited the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg. They were welcomed by Rainer Grotte and staff. At the meeting, Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah expressed his appreciation for the collaboration with the institute in the 2017 recharging program as well as an idea for a new program for the following year. He said that the collaboration with the institute will be focused on supporting the research of the Constitutional Court’s researchers and sending experts to exchange information in Jakarta. Grotte welcomed the idea and expressed his support. The Max Planck Institute has appointed Patrick Kuebart as Head of Project to lead the collaboration with the Constitutional Court of Indonesia that has been going on since 2016. (HS/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)