Constitutional Justice I Dewa Gede Palguna as a keynote speaker at The Hague Conference 2019. Photo by Humas MK.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights, are inseparable from the 1945 Constitution and an important part of the Indonesian nation as a constitutional democracy. This was conveyed by Constitutional Justice I Dewa Gede Palguna in his presentation as a keynote speaker in The Hague Conference 2019 held on Thursday-Friday (21-22/11/2019) at The Hague University, the Netherlands.

In the conference on "Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in An Age of Exit", Justice Palguna explained that the inclusion of economic, social, and cultural rights in the Indonesian constitution was outlined in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution. The fourth paragraph states that one of the objectives of the establishment of the Indonesian nation is to realize a social justice for all Indonesians.

After the 1998 Reform, Indonesian outlines in more detail human rights in the changes to the 1945 Constitution, especially economic, social and cultural rights. The right to form family and have offspring through a legal marriage, the right to life and growth, the right to protection from discrimination and violence, and the right to basic education are some of the protection of economic, social and cultural rights by the 1945 Constitution.

Justice Palguna also said that the 1945 Constitution also gave an obligation to the state to fulfill the constitutional rights of citizens relating to economic, social, and cultural rights. In this case, for example, every citizen is required to attend basic education and the state is required to fund it. In addition, the state is mandated to develop a social security system for all Indonesians.

Justice Palguna also asked the participants from various countries whether those rights can be fulfilled or are only stipulated in the constitution. He believes that an institution is needed to declare laws that violate the constitution unconstitutional. Post-amendment, the 1945 Constitution mandated the Constitutional Court to guard the human rights set forth in the constitution. Any violation of laws against the Constitution may be petitioned for a judicial review in the Constitutional Court.

Justice Palguna mentioned the judicial review of the Electricity Law, which contains the unbundling concept, where the state does not interfere. The Constitutional Court ruled that the idea that the state does not interfere in the management of electricity is contrary to Article 33 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, which states that production sectors that are vital to the state and that affect the livelihood of a considerable part of the population are to be controlled by the state.

Justice Palguna also mentioned the judicial review of the Marriage Law, which used to state that the legal marriage age for women was 16 years old. The Court was of the opinion that at 16, girls were supposed to enjoy their constitutional right to education, health services, and freedom from discrimination and violence. The Court then ruled that the provision was unconstitutional. The House (DPR) and the Government then responded by including the issue in the National Legislative Program (Prolegnas) to be amended.

Concluding his presentation, Justice Palguna said that the judicial review in the Constitutional Court affirms the notion that Indonesia is a constitutional democracy that is committed to protecting human rights and citizens’ constitutional rights. (Muchtar Hadi Saputra/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti