MK Researcher Pan Mohamad Faiz distributed books to Australian students who are members of the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) on Thursday (10/1/2019) in the Delegation Room of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

The Constitutional Court (MK) received a visit by Australian students, members of the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), Thursday (01/10/2019) in the Delegation Room of the Constitutional Court. The visit, aimed at getting to know more about the Constitutional Court, was received by Constitutional Court Researcher Pan Mohamad Faiz. He welcomed 62 students as the Court had a strong commitment to establish relations with the international community, including foreign students.

Faiz also explained the establishment of the Constitutional Court as part of the reform through amendments in 1999-2002. Post-Reform, continued Faiz, the state administration changed fundamentally. Prior to the Reform, he said, executive power had been extremely strong, but Post-Reform there was a division and control of the power among state institutions.

The Constitutional Court, said Faiz, has four authorities and one duty, namely examining laws against the 1945 Constitution, deciding on authority dispute of state institutions, deciding on the dissolution of political parties, and deciding on disputes over election results. "The obligation is to make a decision on the opinion of the House of Representatives regarding an alleged violation by the president and/or vice president according to the 1945 Constitution," he said.

Meanwhile, the function of the Constitutional Court, Faiz added, is to safeguard the constitution, democracy, and state ideology. In addition, the Court also has a role as protector of human rights and constitutional rights of citizens. Finally, he said, the Constitutional Court acts as the legitimate interpreter of the Constitution.

Faiz said that the Indonesian Constitutional Court adheres to the centralized model. This is indicated by the authority of judicial review conducted by the institution, separate from the Supreme Court (MA). This is different from the American system, in which the authority lies with the Supreme Court.

Faiz also explained that the Constitutional Court has nine justice nominated by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. All three branches of institution have the right to nominate three candidates to the Constitutional Court. "When the justices are in office, they do not have a relationship [with the nominators] and remain independent in deciding cases," he explained.

He also emphasized that the Constitutional Court was the pioneer of modern judicial institutions in Indonesia. This was indicated by the Constitutional Court opening access to the public to be able to immediately see any information related to the institution through the its special applications or from the institution\'s website. "The Court provides video conference in 42 universities for those who cannot come to the Constitutional Court. As well as video streaming and transcripts of the hearings," he said.

After the presentation, in the Q&A session, Faiz answered questions related to the reasons underlying the Court\'s rejection of a petition. He said there are decisions declaring the petitions cannot be accepted, rejected, and granted. When the verdict is "cannot be accepted," he said, the petition does not meet the existing requirements, for example when a petition challenging a Government Regulation is submitted to the Court. When the verdict is "rejected," it means the substance of the article or law being reviewed does not conflict with the Constitution. And then there is the verdict "granted."

Then, answering the question regarding the authority of the Constitutional Court in dissolving political parties, Faiz referred to Article 40 paragraph (3) of the Political Party Law that prohibits political parties from adhering to communism/Marxism and Leninism. This stems from the political history of Indonesia that witnessed a rebellion by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965. In addition, political parties can be prohibited from having activities that conflict with the 1945 Constitution and endanger the integrity of the state. With the existence of the Constitutional Court, Faiz added, political party dissolution is not dominated by the executives. This authority also serves to correct the unilateral dissolution of political parties in the 1960s by the Government. (Arif Satriantoro/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)