Constitutional Court researcher Oly Viane Agustine welcomed SMP 6 Makasar, Tuesday (23/10). Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Forty-seven students of SMP 6 Makassar learned about the Constitutional Court’s history and role in the hall of the Constitutional Court on Tuesday (23/10). They were welcomed by Constitutional Court researcher Oly Viane Agustine, who then explained four authorities and one obligation of the Constitutional Court based on the 1945 Constitution.

“The authorities of the Constitutional Court are examining laws against the 1945 Constitution, deciding on authority disputes among state institutions whose authorities are granted by the 1945 Constitution, deciding on the dissolution of political parties, and deciding on disputes over election results. The Court is also obligated to decide on an alleged violation of law committed by the president and/or vice president,” she explained.

Oly explained that Constitutional Court is akin to an umpire. The Court has nine constitutional justices that are nominated by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the state. Each branch nominates three justices.

She then explained that the Constitutional Court is different from the public courts. “The public courts have absolute and relative authorities. The relative authority is related t the location where the courts hold its hearings,” she said.

The Constitutional Court, Oly said, has four absolute authorities and one obligation. She added that all cases petitioned in the Court are accepted, except if the petitioners are absent in the preliminary hearing.

The petitioners in the Constitutional Court are individuals, state agencies, public legal entities, private legal entities, and customary law communities. A petition must include the petitioners’ identities, the elaboration on the law being reviewed, and evidence.

After the presentation, the students then visited the Constitution History Center (Puskon) and watched a film on the Constitution. (Arif Satriantoro/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti