Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih delivering a general lecture before the students and staff of IAIN Tulungagung (15/3). Photo by Humas MK/Banoe.

Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih delivered a general lecture before the students and staff of IAIN Tulungagung on Friday afternoon (15/3/2019). The general lecture on “The Constitutional Court in the Constitutional System of the Republic of Indonesia” was held by the Constitutional Court in collaboration with the Syaria and Law Faculty (FASIH) of IAIN Tulungagung. IAIN Tulungagung Rector Maftukhin, FASIH Dean Ahmad Muhtadi Anshor, and Constitutional Court Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah attended the event.

Justice Enny elaborated on the history of the establishment of the Constitutional Court as a state constitutional institution. She said that the constitutional system during the New Order tended to dominate the laws. However, moving toward the Reform era, in the beginning the lawmakers were not ready to change the Constitution.

“In 2001 after the removal of President Abdurrahman Wahid from power, there was an idea to amend the 1945 Constitution. The third amendment of the 1945 Constitution created a new state institution in the judiciary, called the Constitutional Court. At that time, the designation of highest or high state institutions no longer existed, as all institutions were equal in the constitutional hierarchy of the Republic of Indonesia,” Enny explained. Enny also talked about the collaboration between the Constitutional Court and universities all across the country, including IAIN Tulungagung. She said that the collaboration is not trivial, as it paved the way for the Court to instill constitutionalism among young academia. (YB/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)