Principal Petitioner Wiwin Taswin conveying the revision points in the judicial review hearing of the KPK Law, Monday (28/10) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ganie.
JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court (MK) held the second judicial review hearing of the Law on the Amendment to Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK Law) on Monday (28/10/2019) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court.
In the hearing chaired by Chief Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman, Petitioner Wiwin Taswin stated that the Petitioners had revised the title of the petition and affirmed that it is the formal judicial review petition of Law No. 19 of 2019 on the Second Amendment Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission and the material review of Article 21 paragraph (1) letter a of Law No. 19 of 2019.
The Petitioners also affirmed the legal standing by stating that the Petitioners are individual Indonesian citizens who are pursuing graduate courses in law at the As-Syafi\'iyah Islamic University and work as advocates who have concerns for the legal world. According to Wiwin, as citizens who are concerned with the legal world, of course they have constitutional rights in the enforcement of law in Indonesia.
"Formally, the Petitioners are entitled to the enactment of a law established through the correct procedures based on the law and the provisions of the formation of legislation. If the laws and regulations are formed through the wrong procedure, the Petitioners will be constitutionally disadvantaged, because [they] will be bound by a law that is formally flawed," he stressed.
The Petitioners also revised the petitum, in which they requested that the Constitutional Court grant the entire petition. In the formal judicial review, they requested that the Court declare Law No. 19 of 2019 formally not following the mechanism of legislation. In the material review, Wiwin added, if the Constitutional Court is of the opinion that the formation of Law No. 19 of 2019 has fulfilled the procedure and mechanism of the establishment of the statutory regulation, the Petitioners requested that the Court to declare Article 21 paragraph 1 letter a of Law No. 19 of 2019 unconstitutional and not legally binding.
In the previous session, Petitioner Wiwin Taswin argued that Article 21 paragraph (1) letter a of the KPK Law contradicts Article 1 paragraph (3) and Article 20 of the 1945 Constitution. According to the Petitioners, the ratification of the KPK Law by the House of Representatives (DPR) is not in accordance with the spirit of MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly) Decree Number XI/MPR/1998 concerning clean State Administration that is free of corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN) and in no way reflects the spirit of corruption eradication. Therefore, they added, the amendment to the KPK Law is not in accordance with the eradication of corruption in the state administration.
In addition, the Petitioners also considered that the formation of and decision making by the House over the amendment to the KPK Law was formally flawed and did not meet the quorum. Thus, the formation of the amendment to the KPK Law significantly violates the principle of the formation of legislation as regulated in Law Number 12 of 2011.
In addition, the Petitioners argued that the KPK is an independent state institution, so there is a guarantee of prosecution and prevention of corruption without intervention. Therefore, prosecution and prevention of corruption can be done accordingly. The amendment to the KPK Law created a supervisory board regulated in Article 21 paragraph (1) letter a, which reads, “The Corruption Eradication Commission shall consist of: a. The Supervisory Board consisting of 5 (five) people." This board potentially interferes with the KPK’s independence in carrying out its duties and functions, which could lead to subpar prosecution and prevention of corruption and even more widespread corruption in Indonesia.
Therefore, the Petitioners requested that the constitutional justices declare the Law on the Amendment to Law Number 30 of 2002 concerning the Corruption Eradication Commission not fulfilling formal procedure and mechanism for the formation of statutory regulations as regulated in Law Number 12 of 2011 concerning the Establishment of Legislation and must be declared null and void. (Utami/LA)
Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti
Monday, October 28, 2019 | 16:07 WIB 139