BIMA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The law does not always equal fairness because the law sometimes contains tyranny. This was conveyed by Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Anwar Usman when he speaking at a public lecture on the "Position of the Constitutional Court in the Indonesian Administrative System" at the Bima Law Institute of Muhammadiyah, West Nusa Tenggara.

Anwar explained that Article 24 of the 1945 Constitution stated, "Judicial power is an independent power to administer justice in order to uphold law and justice." He said the law does not always equal fairness. "So in Article 24 of the 1945 Constitution it is said to uphold law and justice. The law is enforced because we are a constitutional state in accordance with Article 1 of the 1945 Constitution," he explained.

Anwar also explained that Indonesia is a democratic country based on law. This shows that power is in the hands of the people, but is limited by law. "If democracy is not limited by law, it will bring about an authoritarian government," Anwar said before the academic community of STIH Muhammadiyah on Sunday afternoon (12/29/2019).

Anwar added that to prevent such an authoritarian government, the Constitutional Court was born. The law as a product of the House (DPR) and the president can be canceled when petitioned by citizens who feel that their constitutional rights have been violated, who complain to the Constitutional Court. "Anyone can file a petition. [You] can also file a judicial review petition like the students who [do so for the KPK Law]," he said. (Agung Sumarna/LA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti