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Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Anwar Usman speaking in the open Senate Hearing of Mataram Muhammadiyah University, Saturday (14/9) in Mataram, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. Photo by Humas MK/Ilham.

MATARAM, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—"I feel great joy because one stage of [your] struggle has been surpassed, graduating from [your] campus," said Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Anwar Usman in the open Senate Hearing of Mataram Muhammadiyah University\\'s 47th Class Graduation, at the university\\'s square in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Saturday (14/09/2019).

Starting his speech on "The Constitutional Court as Guardian of the Nation\\'s Ideology," Justice Anwar said that the graduation was the first step for graduates to be involved in society. However, it all depends on their efforts to make changes. This is similar to the birth of the Constitutional Court, which resulted from the amendment to the 1945 Constitution resulting from the struggle of the Indonesian people. The Constitutional Court until today has a broad impact on the Indonesian constitutional system.

Justice Anwar said that the amendment to the 1945 Constitution was an inseparable part of the Reform movement. Therefore, the Constitutional Court that was born from the amendment of the 1945 Constitution is often said to be the biological child of the Reform. The authorities of the Constitutional Court are examining laws against the 1945 Constitution, deciding on authority dispute among state institutions whose authorities are given by the 1945 Constitution, deciding on the dissolution of political parties, and deciding on disputes over legislative and presidential elections results. The Constitutional Court has just resolved disputes of the 2019 simultaneous elections.

"We have just held the first simultaneous elections in the history of the Republic of Indonesia, and the first for the Constitutional Court to resolve disputes at once. Even though the results of the process at the Constitutional Court are unlikely to satisfy all parties, that is the process that must be followed," said Bima-born justice. He explained that the judicial settlement of disputes over the election results in the Constitutional Court is not evaluating opinions but rather the facts revealed in the hearing.

The Constitutional Court is also obligated to decide on the House’s opinion on an alleged violation of law committed by the president and/or vice president, according to the 1945 Constitution. “Before the amendment [to the 1945 Constitution], this was under the purview of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) as the highest state institution,” Justice Anwar said. With this authority, without the Constitutional Court\\'s decision, MPR could not impeach the president/vice-president. In addition, he said, the Constitutional Court was also given additional authority to settle disputes over the results of regional head elections.

In addition to those authorities, the Constitutional Court is to be guardian of state ideology because Pancasila is an inseparable part of the 1945 Constitution as stipulated in the preamble and the body. Pancasila as a state ideology also does not conflict with religious values, especially Islam, as many verses of the Qur\\'an can describe Pancasila. The constitution also regulates the functions and relations of state institutions and limits the power of state institutions.

"In developing civilization in a country currently democracy and rule of law are the concepts that apply in almost all parts of the world. Since Indonesia\\'s independence, the founders of the Indonesian state have committed to the formation of a state based on democratic principles and committed to the formation of a rule of law," Justice Anwar said.

Justice Anwar further explained that the concept of the rule of law had already in the fourth paragraph of the preamble of the Constitution, "Indonesia\\'s National Independence shall be laid down in a Constitution of the State of Indonesia." "The formulation shows that the Indonesian state must be run based on the Constitution," Anwar told the graduates in the hearing. The Constitution also protects human rights without discrimination.

Pancasila as a Particular Legal System

After the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, Indonesia affirmed itself as a rule of law with its own characteristics to uphold law and justice, that is, taking good things from the concept of constitutional state, rechtsstaat, and countries that adhere to the rule of law concept, so that law and justice must be enforced simultaneously in the Pancasila legal system, which also adopts customary law and religious law.

In addition to being the interpreter of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is also guardian of the state ideology because Pancasila as the state ideology is an inseparable part of the 1945 Constitution as the Indonesian constitution. Law enforcers as part of the legal structure have an important role because in every legal system, law enforcers are required to understand the ideals of the law as well as be more intelligent and daring to explore the values of justice in solving legal cases. The common problem in enforcement of law and the constitution is the lack of awareness of law enforcers of the noble values and legal philosophy of Pancasila, resulting in law without justice.

Justice Anwar ended his speech by expressing his hopes for the graduates to be able to compete in realizing their dreams. (Ilham/NRA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti

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