Head of the PR and Protocol Bureau Heru Setiawan welcoming delegates of the Embassy of Malaysia in the Meeting Room of the Constitutional Court, Tuesday (5/3). Photo by Humas MK/Ganie.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Head of the PR and Protocol Bureau Heru Setiawan welcomed six delegates of the Embassy of Malaysia in the Meeting Room of the Constitutional Court, Tuesday (5/3/2019). The Head of Chancery of the Embassy of Malaysia Mohd. Halil Aniff visited the Constitutional Court visited the Court to learn the legal system in a constitutional state institution. “In Malaysia, there is no special institution like the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, so hopefully there will be collaboration in the future. In addition, we wish to exchange knowledge and learn so that this visit improve the bilateral relation between the two countries,” Aniff said.

Heru informed the degelation on the organizational structure of the Constitutional Court, which consists of Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice, Constitutional Justices, Ethics Board, Secretary General, Court Registrar, as well as bureaus and centers that have well-structured main tasks and functions. Heru also stated that the Constitutional Court through its vision, guarding the enforcement of the Constitution through a modern and trusted judiciary, does not only play a role in the domestic justice system but also actively participates in international law through its membership of the AACC (the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions) for the development of democracy, the rule of law, and to improve cooperation between constitutional judicial institutions.

Constitutional Court researcher Pan Mohamad Faiz also shared his knowledge about the history of the Indonesian Constitution. He explained that as a democratic country, Indonesia\'s Constitution has gone through a long journey. During the Soeharto era, Faiz added, the interpretation of the Constitution was very limited. "It was only in 1999-2002 that Indonesia began to experience fundamental changes in the implementation of its Constitution," he explained in the presence of the Head of the Foreign Cooperation Division of the Constitutional Court Sri Handayani and fellow Constitutional Court researcher Helmi Kasim. 

In addition, Faiz also introduced the authority of the Constitutional Court as a constitutional judiciary that has a different role from that of the Supreme Court or even the Federal Court of Malaysia. Faiz also spoke about various cases lodged at the Constitutional Court of Indonesia by individual citizens, political parties, and state institutions. (Sri Pujianti/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)