Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul as keynote speaker at the Constitutional Jamboree at Mulawarman University, East Kalimantan (13/09). Photo by Humas MK/MFD.

EAST KALIMANTAN, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—History recorded Indonesia’s first simultaneous elections running smoothly, with a note for future improvements. The election process ended with the Constitutional Court\\'s decision as the last legal remedy (the last resort). This is where the Court carries out its role as guardian of the nation\\'s Constitution and ideology, and was demanded to give the fairest decisions. This was conveyed by Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul in a key lecture in the Constitutional Jamboree, held by the Constitutional Court in collaboration with Mulawarman University in East Kalimantan, at the Ballroom of the Law Faculty of Mulawarman University, Friday (13/09).

In his speech, Justice Manahan emphasized that every decision of the Constitutional Court is actually an effort to participate in guarding the Constitution while strengthening nationality. "One of the objectives of establishing the Constitutional Court is to protect the rights of citizens as guaranteed by the Constitution. The birth of the Constitutional Court was also seen as a consequence of the realization of a democratic rule of law and a democratic state based on law," he explained.

The Court, he added, serves not only to reconstruct the facts of the formulation of a legal norm, but also to find the purpose behind the formulation of legal norms. According to him, the Constitutional Court\\\'s decisions are also the glue to national elements, maintaining national ideology to remain strong. State ideology is a living norm, more bound to the future, goals to achieve. "Of course, the resolve of the Constitutional Court in upholding the constitutional rights of the country is not limited to judicial review cases, but in relation to dispute cases over the election of regent, governor and mayor and dispute cases over legislative and presidential election results. Thus, the decisions of the Constitutional Court are not merely textual but also contextual so that the Constitution remains actual," he concluded.

The Constitutional Jamboree at Mulawarman University in 2019 raised the theme "Maintaining Nationality through the Constitution." The event will be held for 3 days, starting September 13 to 15, 2019. Many activities will be part of the jamboree, such as constitutional awareness short film competition, constitution awareness poster contest, theater performance, and constitutional awareness school competition. (MFD/FLS)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti