Photo session after public lecture on “The Constitutional Court and the Protection of Social and Economic Rights,” Wednesday (6/11) at the Law Faculty hall of Udayana University. Photo by Humas MK/Teguh.

BALI, Public Relations Constitutional Court—Justice I Dewa Gede Palguna of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) and Judge Justyn Piskorski of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland gave a public lecture at the Law Faculty Hall of Udayana University, Wednesday (6/11). The lecture under the theme "Constitutional Court and Protection of Social and Economic Rights" was moderated by Bisariyadi (MKRI researcher).

Constitutional Justice I Dewa Gede Palguna in his lecture explained that the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia guarantees citizens\' socio-economic rights, such as the right to basic education. In 2008, the Constitutional Court even issued a decision on the education budget, at twenty percent of the State Budget (APBN) and the Regional Budget (APBD).

According to Justice Palguna, the Constitutional Court also decided on marriage between employees of one office regulated by the Manpower Law. The Constitutional Court in its decision stated that the prohibition on marriage between employees of one office was unconstitutional. He also explained the 1945 Constitution before the amendments was too simple and could be interpreted flexibly by the authorities, so it was amended in 1999 to 2002 to avoid multiple interpretations.

During the question and answer session, the Ambassador of Poland to Indonesia, Beata Stoczynska, asked about the basis in drafting the Indonesian Constitution. Justice Palguna explained that the spirit of the Indonesian Constitution is contained in the Preamble to the Constitution and in the state ideology Pancasila.

Judge Justyn Piskorski in his lecture explained that since 1921 when the Stalin Constitution was in effect, Poland had adopted the protection of socio-economic rights for citizens, protection of the rights of workers, women, and children. "In the Constitution, the state has also guaranteed the rights of children\'s education and care for parents," Judge Piskorski said. In 1935 the Polish Constitution was amended. As a result, only the right to education is guaranteed.

Judge Piskorski explained that in the 1980s there was a wave of anti-communism protests, which demanded a change in the constitution so that citizens\' rights were restored, including the right to decent work, so that individual rights of citizens would be more secure. Judge Piskorski added that in providing guarantees for the protection of the social and economic rights of citizens, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland has the authority to handle constitutional complaints.

However, Judge Piskorski said, the authority has made the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland busier. In addition, not many citizens file constitutional complaints to the Tribunal due to the high cost of hiring a lawyer. Furthermore, so far the Tribunal only accepted and granted a few constitutional complaints. (Ilham/NRA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti