Chief Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman delivering a public lecture at Surabaya University (Ubaya) on Thursday (29/8). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

SURABAYA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Chief Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman delivered a public lecture at Surabaya University (Ubaya) on Thursday (29/8/2019) on "The Constitutional Court as Guardian of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution."

In his public lecture, Justice Anwar said the Constitutional Court’s function as the guardian of Pancasila and the Constitution was one of the aspirations and implications of the struggle of the 1998 Student Movement, known as the Reforms. "Without the struggle and movement of students in the Reform movement, it is impossible for the Constitutional Court to be born," he explained.

Justice Anwar added that historically the idea for a constitutional court had been conveyed by Indonesia\'s founding fathers during the discussion on the preparation of the 1945 Constitution at the beginning of independence. However, for various reasons, the idea of the need for an institution to compare laws (judicial review) could not be accommodated.

Justice Anwar explained that although the Constitutional Court has the authority to guard the Constitution as mandated by the 1945 Constitution, the people are the main stakeholders in the current state administration. "In the past, the parliament and the executive had absolute authority to interpret and formulate laws, even state guidelines, and revoke or revise them if there were any deficiencies or mistakes. Now the people or citizens have the same rights as politicians, to sue or annul a law through the Constitutional Court," he explained.

Justice Anwar also said that upholding the Constitution also meant upholding state ideology, Pancasila. The Constitution is not merely the norms arranged in the body of the 1945 Constitution. The Constitution, often referred to as the 1945 Constitution, has two main parts: the Preamble and the body, containing the norms arranged in articles.

Justice Anwar also stated that Pancasila became a legal ideal because of its position as the fundamental principle of the state. Because of that, Pancasila is a guide for the formation of national laws. "In other words, all legal products made and enforced are aimed at realizing the ideas contained in Pancasila. On this basis, Pancasila is the source of all sources of law that guide the law," he stressed.

Justice Anwar emphasized Surabaya University as a higher education institution with emphasis on multiculturalism. This value is indicated by ethnic diversity by emphasizing harmonious life in multicultural community, that there is inter-ethnic mutualism interaction in it. Ubaya campus is one of the campuses that embrace the noble values of Pancasila.

At the end of his lecture, Justice Anwar hoped that Ubaya students could become the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court like him. "I am sure and I believe that among all students, one day a new Chief Justice will be born," he concluded, met with applause from the participants of the public lecture. (Bayu/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti