Constitutional Justice I Dewa Palguna in the second day opening of the call-for-papers, Thursday (7/11) in Bali. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

BALI, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—As the Permanent Secretary of Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) for Planning and Coordination, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) organized a call-for-papers under the theme "Constitutional Court and the Protection of Social and Economic Rights" on Thursday (7/11/2019) in Nusa Dua, Bali.

In his opening remarks on the second day of the event, Constitutional Justice I Dewa Palguna said that there are things relating to the protection of socio-economic rights for Indonesian citizens who not perfectly covered in the Constitution. Therefore, the Constitutional Court guards the constitutional rights of Indonesian citizens. As a case in point, he talked about several judicial review cases by the MKRI, including on the State Budget Law for the 2008 Fiscal Year. This norm, according to MKRI, was unconstitutional because it failed to meet the minimum amount of 20% of budget allocation for education as mandated by Article 31 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution.

However, Justice Palguna acknowledged that the Constitutional Court does not have the authority to adjudicate constitutional complaints. "Through this forum, I hope experts in attendance can exchange experiences so that Indonesia also has new perspectives to fill the constitutional gap," he said before the participants, next to Acting Head of Center for Research and Case Review Wiryanto and researcher Pan Mohamad Faiz.

Justice Palguna further revealed that from the presentation on the first day by the speakers, he found many new perspectives on economic and social rights in other countries, including the involvement of constitutional courts from various countries in dealing with economic and social rights issues, which are part of human rights.

In Indonesia, Justice Palguna said, these rights are part of the 1945 Constitution and are contained in the fifth precept of Pancasila. Thus, constitutionally, in Indonesia the protection of economic, social, and cultural rights is a state obligation. Treaties are also ratified in order to respect, protect and fulfill the economic, social, and cultural rights stipulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

The call-for-papers is organized by the MKRI’s Center for Research and Case Review. It is part of The 3rd Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium (ICCIS 2019). It took place for two days (6-7/11/2019), where there are presentations by selected speakers as well as discussion and responses by other participants. (Sri Pujianti)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti