---

Deputy Chief Constitutional Justice Aswanto delivering a keynote speech during the opening  of the Constitution Week XII of 2019, Sunday (24/11) at Andalas University.

PADANG, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Guarding Constitutional Democracy is the theme of the Constitution Week XII of 2019 organized by the Constitutional Court (MK) and Center for Constitutional Studies (Pusako) of Law Faculty of Andalas University. The program took place at Andalas University on November 24-27, 2019 with 52 high schools and equivalents of West Sumatera, Riau, and Jambi participating. The schools were selected by the jury for their students’ achievements.

Deputy Chief Constitutional Justice Aswanto delivered a keynote speech during the opening of the program. He said that one form of success in forming a constitution is to build constitutionalism and constitutional democracy.

"The constitution must be able to make it so that there is not any buildup of power in one branch of state powers," he said.

Constitutionalism is a concept or idea to realize the protection of society. Constitutionalism limits the power of government so that the Government is not arbitrary or authoritarian.

Justice Aswanto added that as a rule of law, the Government in carrying out its duties and authorities must be limited in accordance with Pancasila. The norms set forth in articles and paragraphs in the law are derived from the values of Pancasila.

Head of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau Heru Setiawan on behalf of Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah in his remarks said that the Constitutional Court welcomed institutional cooperation with the university. "Universities, in this case Andalas University, are friends of the Court. For the Constitutional Court, cooperation with universities is no longer a demand but a necessity within the Constitutional Court\\'s journey," he said.

He stated that Andalas University has been implementing the MoU through various programs, including the Constitution Week XII. "Therefore, there is no doubt for the Court to continue its collaboration with Andalas University," he said.

Andalas University Law Faculty Dean Busyra Azheri expressed his appreciation for the collaboration in the Constitution Week XII. “We hope that the cooperation will continue in future programs,” he added.

Technical Meeting of Competition Participants

Previously, Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra in the technical meeting for the competition participants explained the duties and authorities of the Constitutional Court. The Court is not authorized to adjudicate individuals/agencies like the Supreme Court (MA) does. The Constitutional Court adjudicates state systems and institutions. "Therefore, in addition to the duty and authority to examine the law against the Constitution, the Constitutional Court also examines disputes over the authority of state institutions, whose authorities are given by the Constitution.”

The other tasks of the Constitutional Court are to decide upon the dissolution of political parties and disputes over the results of elections. The Constitutional Court can only adjudicate people only in the case of impeachment. So, the Court has the authority to hold a special hearing for the President and or Vice President. If in the hearing, the President and/or Vice President are found to have violated the Constitution, the Court granted the impeachment request and the results are submitted to the MPR [People’s Consultative Assembly]. “As is currently happening to Donald Trump, President of the United States," he said.

Justice Saldi also advised the participants to regard this competition as an additional lesson. "Compared to other students, the students participating in these competitions have more values, so everything must be prepared professionally," he concluded. (Bayu/NRA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti

---