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Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah accepting the 2019 KPAI Award in the Ministries/State Agencies category on Friday (19/07) at MNC Conference Hall INEWS Tower, Jakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court (MK) received the 2019 KPAI (Child Protection Commission) Award in the Ministries/State Agencies category for its commitment toward protecting Indonesian children. The award was handed over by the Head of the Child Protection Commission (KPAI) Susanto in commemoration of the National Children’s Day on Friday (19/7/2019) at MNC Conference Hall INEWS Tower, Jakarta.

The 2019 KPAI Awards entitled “Children-Friendly Indonesia in Millennial Era” was in its third year. The indicators for the assessment are activities promoting protection of children in terms of innovation, commitment, and impact in order to 2030 Children-Friendly Indonesia.

The Constitutional Court scored higher over the Ministry of Women\'s Empowerment and Child Protection (MOWECP) and the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions,
and Transmigration.

Expressing his appreciation of the event, Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah said, “This award for the Constitutional Court is a valuable gift amidst the Court’s activities in resolving 2019 legislative election disputes. On behalf of the Constitutional Court, I’d like to express appreciation of this event. It is a momentum for providing child protection.”

Meanwhile, KPI head Susanto stressed that the jury had assessed the Constitutional Court’s commitment to child protection in Indonesia. “These awards are the KPAI’s appreciation to state administrators, especially the Constitutional Court, and to the community who show commitment to child protection, as it highly impacts the quality of children in Indonesia,” he said.

KPAI also awarded the Life Time Achievement in Child Protection to the fifth President Megawati Soekarnoputri and sixth President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for their roles in KPAI’s establishment and for issuing children-friendly policies.

Three criteria for the ministries/state agencies to receive the awards are: commitment to child protection to legal guarantee and certainty, services in child protection, and innovation to develop child protection and involvement of stakeholders to care about child protection.

The Constitutional Court passed a ruling for petition No. 46/PUU-VIII/2010 in relation to the material review of the Marriage Law petitioned by Machica Mochtar in 2012. The Court ruled that children born out of wedlock have a civil relationship with their mothers and their maternal family, as well as with their biological father as proven legally with medical/scientific proofs.

On December 13, 2018, the Constitutional Court passed a ruling for petition No. 22/PUU-XV/2017 on the legal marriageable age in the Marriage Law. The Court ruled that the minimum age for marriage at 16 years for female unconstitutional. The Court gave the Government 3 years to revise the provision of the law on the minimum age for marriage, during which the minimum age is set according to the Law on Child Protection at 18 years. (Bayu/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti

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