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Chief Justice Anwar Usman presenting 2018 Reflection and 2019 Projection, Monday (28/1) at the Le Meridien Hotel, Jakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Ganie.

Beginning 2019, the Constitutional Court (MK) held an event, 2018 Reflection and 2019 Projection, Monday (28/1) at the Le Meridien Hotel, Jakarta. This event was to report the Court’s performance throughout 2018 and projection for 2019, both being politically-charged years.

In his presentation, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court reported the 2018 Reflection on events and strategic efforts that the Court had done in 2018. He also reported the projection of the Court’s activities in 2019, discussing overall strategic plans and events the Court would carry out in 2019, complete with budgetary projections.

“The 2018 Reflection details the strategic efforts and activities that the Court had carried out and achieved throughout 2018. All was done to ensure the smooth implementation of the Constitutional Court\'s authority, especially its role in guarding the people\'s sovereignty, both through the decisions of judicial review and cases of disputes over regional election results,” he explained.

Number of Cases in 2018 

Chief Justice Anwar stated that all throughout 2018, the Court had registered 102 judicial review (PUU) cases and 72 regional election results disputes (PHP Kada). The number of registered judicial review cases is exactly the same as that in 2017. Of the 102 cases, 49 are cases from the previous year. “Thus, the total cases handled by the Court in 2018 (PUU and PHP Kada) is 223 cases, consisting of 151 judicial review cases and 72 regional election results dispute cases,” he said before leaders of state institutions, NGOs, and the media.

Out of the total 223 cases handled by the Court in 2018, Justice Anwar added, the Court had decided 186 cases—114 judicial review cases (49 cases of 2017 and 65 of 2018) as well as 72 PHP Kada cases. This means 37 judicial review cases will be continued in 2019, which is lower in number than that in 2017 (49 cases). “The reason is that usually those cases were registered at the end of 2018,” he said.

In the event, Justice Anwar also revealed that in order to handle the cases in 2018, the Court held 1,142 hearings and Justices Deliberation Meetings (RPH). As many as 348 panel hearings were carried out, while the plenary hearings 384. As many as 410 RPH were held. “This implies that there was no day that the constitutional justices did not hold RPH and hearings,” he added.

Out of all 2018 decisions, 32 cases were decided without going through preliminary examination because the Court deemed the substance clear, that statements from other parties were considered unnecessary and irrelevant. In 2018, out of the 151 judicial review cases, 46 laws were impugned. Five laws were particularly popular. “They are the General Elections Law, the MD3 Law, the Manpower Law, the Advocate Law, and the Supreme Court Law,” Justice Anwar elaborated.

Justice Anwar stated that the average handling period of each judicial review cases in 2018 was 69 workdays or 3.5 months. Meanwhile, in 2017, out of the 131 judicial review cases, the average handling period was 101 workdays or 5.2 months. This means that cases in 2018 were handled more swiftly that those in 2017. This is a significant improvement in terms of speed in which the Court handles judicial review cases. “Hopefully this can be improved or at least improved along with the improvement of the quality of the Constitutional Court decisions,” he said.

Regarding judicial review handling period, Constitutional Justice I Dewa Gede Palguna also stated that the lack of certainty in PUU handling had been a concern for the Court since its establishment in 2003. He believed that the Court was “following” justice seekers in terms of length of hearing. “For example, on the number of witnesses or experts to be presented in the hearing. This also affects the judicial review handling period,” he explained.

Non-Hearing Activities 

Aside from hearings, the Constitutional Court also held non-hearing activities in 2018. They are, among others, Development of Technology, Information, and Communication through several IT development and reinforcement steps geared toward case handling and the provision of electronic-based information services. The Court had also improved institutional capacity through the improvement of organizational structure of the Registrar’s Office and the Secretariat General.

“In improving national cooperation, in 2018 the Court maintained and improved cooperation with various parties in the country through the signing of Memorandum of Understanding, among others, with LPSK (Witness and Victim Protection Agency), BPKP (Development Finance Comptroller), Satya Wacana Christian University, and the National Library. The cooperation with universities as friends of the court was also done through national seminars, focus group discussions, research, Constitutional Week, and other activities,” he explained.

2019 Performance Projection 

Chief Justice Anwar also presented the 2019 performance projection of the Constitutional Court. He explained several strategic plans and activities that the Court will carry out in 2019 along with the budgets, especially concerning the Court’s function and role in realizing electoral justice in the 2019 Simultaneous General Elections. The priority programs that the Court has planned for 2019 are 1) implementation of the Constitutional Court’s constitutional authority and preparation for the 2019 Simultaneous PHPU case handling, 2) improvement of Court’s decision quality, 3) education and training of citizens’ constitutional rights, 4) improvement of national and international cooperation, and 5) completion of human resources documents based on the organizational working structure (SOTK).

Meanwhile, Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah stated that the event was a regular report to the public, especially on the cases in the Court, whether those being registered, processed, or those already decided, which was the mandate of the Law on the Constitutional Court. This means that the normative duties and performance of the Constitutional Court in examining, hearing, and deciding constitutional cases must be accountable not only to the Almighty God, but also to the Indonesian people. “Based on [those], this event basically has one agenda, that is, communicating the performance of the Constitutional Court to the public,” he said.

Also present in the event were House of Representatives Speaker Bambang Soesatyo, Deputy Chairperson of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Nono Sapono, Audit Board (BPK) Chairperson Moermahadi, General Elections Commission (KPU) Chairperson Arief Budiman Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Chairperson Abhan, as well as NGOs, and media representatives. (Lulu Anjarsari/Yuniar Widiastuti)

 

 

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