Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat speaking at an international short course program, Wednesday (6/11) in Nusa Dua, Bali. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

BALI, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The founding fathers incorporated five basic principles of the state in Pancasila, which is contained in the fourth paragraph of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution. Of the five principles, three ideas underlie Indonesia: the principle of a democratic rule of law, the principle of democracy based on law, and the principle of theocracy. Many countries separate the state and religion. Indonesia uniquely does not embrace only one religion as the basis of the state but it is also not a secular state. The divine value is a moral guideline for state administrators and citizens.

This was conveyed by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat in the fourth session of the international short course program organized by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) on Wednesday (6/11/2019) in Nusa Dua, Bali. The session was moderated by Immanuel Hutasoit. The program was part of The 3rd Indonesian Constitutional Court International Symposium (ICCIS 2019), which took place Monday-Thursday (5-7/11/2019). Academics and constitutional law practitioners from a number of countries delivered presentations and participated in the program.

Based on these fundamental values and ideas, the 1945 Constitution contains the essence of Indonesia\'s objectives as a welfare state: to realize a social justice for all Indonesians. This formula is contained in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution, ‘... Government of the State of Indonesia that shall protect the whole people of Indonesia and the entire homeland of Indonesia, and in order to advance general prosperity, to develop the nation\'s intellectual life, and to contribute to the implementation of a world order based on freedom, lasting peace and social justice....’ However, Indonesia is not just a welfare state, but also a religious or spiritual welfare state," Justice Arief said.

Justice Arief also gave several examples of the interpretation of the protection of socio-economic rights in the theocratic constitution in Indonesia, such as the Constitutional Court Decision No. 002/PUU-I/2003 concerning the judicial review of the Water Resources Law. "The Water Resources Law drafted by the Government makes water a commodity, even though the Constitutional Court [declares that] water cannot be a commodity [because] water is a legacy from God Almighty [and is] the property rights of citizens. Therefore, water cannot be controlled through privatization and become a commodity," he affirmed. (Yuniar Widiastuti/NRA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti