Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih as keynote speaker at a national seminar at the Law Faculty of Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) on Friday (20/9). Photo by Humas MK/Yogi.

BANJARMASIN, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—“Legal pluralism cannot be separated from the historical aspects, differences in ethnicity, religion, culture, and race. That is what we should be grateful for as in the midst of such differences, we remain a unitary state. There is almost no country in this world that has such diversity but remains a unitary state.” This was conveyed by Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih as a keynote speaker at a national seminar at the Law Faculty of Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) on Friday (30/9/2019). The national seminar under the theme Women\\'s Rights and Legal Pluralism this was attended by Law Faculty Dean of ULM Abdul Halim Barakatullah, YLBHI Asfinawati Chairperson, ULM Law Faculty academic community, law practitioners in Banjarmasin City, and staff of the South Kalimantan Law and Human Rights Office.

In her presentation, Justice Enny said that the development of law in Indonesia could not be separated from the existence of the 1973 State Policy Guidelines (GBHN), the starting point for the development of national law. However, the GBHN formulation did not mention legal pluralism and Human Rights. The direction of the GBHN regarding new legal development changed during the economic crisis, which triggered a governance shift order from authoritarianism to constitutional democracy. The amendment was also the starting point for regulations on human rights because one of the points of the Development Reformation Principles in the Rescuing and Normalizing National Life was to improve Human rights. "So you can imagine if there had been no Reform, there would not be a forum like this," said the Former Head of the National Law Development Agency (BPHN). 

Justice Enny also added that in the 1945 Constitution prior to the amendment, human rights had not been an integral part. However, after the amendment and human rights were stipulated in Articles 28A to 28J, which regulate civil, political, social, and economic rights, including the right to the individual development regardless of ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, or gender. "So if there is discrimination, it is only in practice or implementation because [the ones who discriminate] does not interpreted human rights properly," she said. 

At the end of her lecture, Justice Enny reminded that the Indonesian people must change their way of thinking and realize there should not be human rights discrimination between men and women. The Indonesian Government has even ratified the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women through Law Number 7 of 1984. Existing discriminatory regional regulations, according to her, may be due to the mindset of the regional legislators on gender equality. (YDJ/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti