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Chief Justice Anwar Usman opening focus group discussion, Friday (2/11) at Pullman Hotel, Jakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Panji.

The Constitutional Court held a focus group discussion on “The Direction of the National Legal Development” at Pullman Hotel, Jakarta on Friday (2/11/2018). On the occasion, the Court also signed an MoU with the National Library and had a coordination meeting with the deans of law faculties who managed video conference (Vicon).

In his opening address, Chief Justice Anwar Usman said that the three-day event was part of the Court’s effort in enforcing law and the Constitution as well as the Court’s commitment pursuant to the Constitution. "Upholding the law and Constitution is essentially our joint duty and responsibility, all components and elements of society. Not only the duties and responsibilities of the judiciary and law enforcement officers," he said.

He said that the enforcement of the Constitution and the implementation of legal development in a country are dependent on the citizens\' commitment to the rule of law that had been compiled and stipulated, and to their compliance of the social legal culture.

"Legal awareness is not only related to that about the fulfillment of rights and obligations in accordance with existing provisions, but also includes compliance and participation of all citizens in complying with legal norms, developing existing legal systems, and overseeing their implementation. Without every citizen’s legal awareness of the existing provisions, it is impossible for the law to [be obeyed], and it is also impossible for legal development to be carried out in order to realize legal independence," he stressed.

Suggestions from the Academic Community

In his report, Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah said that the FGD is an annual routine event. He stressed that universities are important colleagues for the advancement of democracy of the country. The Law Professor of Hasanuddin University said that the national legal development will face many challenges and the nation must be prepared to anticipate anything for the advancement of democracy and law in Indonesia. He also revealed that the FGD was aimed at collecting suggestions from the academic community so that the Constitutional Court will be able to continue working towards Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

Jabber Technology

Guntur said that the Constitutional Court had been using video conference with jabber technology, allowing the video conference to be used multiple rooms and to be accessed through smartphones. Aside from being used in court hearings, Guntur said that vicon can be used for international general lectures. He also stressed its importance in legislative and presidential elections to communicate with witnesses and experts.

Registrar Kasianur Sidauruk said that although vicon has many benefits, its users were still fairly limited. He said that so far the vicon had often encountered problems such as unclear audios and lagging videos, which created problems for transcribers.

At the event, the Constitutional Court presented awards—Best Managers of Journals and Academic Papers. The Law Faculty of Brawijaya University received an award for First Best Journal with the journal "Brawijaya Law Journal: Journal of Legal Studies". The Law Faculty of the Islamic University of Indonesia received second place with the journal “Ius Quia Iustum.” The Law Faculty of Padjajaran University received third place with the journal “Legal Journal of Padjajaran.”

The Court also announced winners of the 2018 Best Academic Papers. Anbar Jayadi won first place with “What Constitutes as Limitation of Human Rights in Indonesian Legal Context?” Bisariyadi won second place with “Discovering the Hidden Constitutionals Rights.” Muhammad Ubayyu Rizka and Siti Djazimah won third place with “The Analysis of Maqasid Ash-Syarî\'ah on Constitutional Court Decision Number 46/PUU-VIII/2010 and Its Implications for Islamic Family Law in Indonesia." (Panji Erawan/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)

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