Chief Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman in a national seminar on "The Role of the Constitutional Court in Strengthening Constitutional Democracy" at Widya Gama University, Malang, on Monday (16/12/2019). Photo by Humas MK/M. Nur.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court (MK) worked hard to resolve the 2019 simultaneous elections results dispute (PHPU), said Chief Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman in a national seminar on "The Role of the Constitutional Court in Strengthening Constitutional Democracy" at Widya Gama University, Malang, Monday (16/12/2019).

“The Constitutional Court (MK) worked hard. The Court carried out the mandate of Article 24C of the 1945 Constitution to organize the judiciary to uphold the law and the judiciary. So, it was not only enforcing the law, but also implementing the mandate of God in surah Annisa,” he explained to the participants.

In the 2019 simultaneous elections, Justice Anwar said that the use of social media in society was did not reflect Indonesians’ politeness. He assumed that the Constitutional Court and constitutional justices also became victim of hoaxes in social media. "I am one of the victims of social media. Ahead of the hearing (2019 Presidential Election), my photo came out," he said.

Justice Anwar said that the efforts of a judicial institution to produce fair decisions still could not satisfy various parties because there will always be those who feel defeated and disadvantaged and those who benefit.

He then explained that the main authority of the Constitutional Court is to review the law. "Actually, the authority of judicial review is the authority of checks and balances between executive and legislative institutions. The executive and legislative institutions have the authority to form laws, [while] the Constitutional Court as the judiciary has the authority to cancel them," he explained.

Enforcement of 1945 Constitution

Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah explained that the 1945 Constitution granted the authority to the Constitutional Court as examiners of the law. The 1945 Constitution must be upheld as the basic law that underlies the legal system in Indonesia. Upholding the Constitution must be in line with "upholding law and justice" as mandated by the 1945 Constitution itself. Law and justice will be upheld when all legal provisions refer to the 1945 Constitution. In that case, the authority of the Constitutional Court to examine the law against the Constitution will maintain and guarantee the implementation of legal constitutionality.

Guntur also explained the sustainability and success of constitutional democracy necessitates restrictions by law. In line with that, law must be guaranteed so that the procedure of making the law and its substance reflect democratic values. In this context, through the judicial review authority, the Constitutional Court has the role of guarding the establishment of a constitutional democracy, in the sense of a democratic legal state as well as a democratic constitutional and constitutional democratic state. (M. Nur/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti