Law students affiliated with the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country\' Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) visiting the Constitutional Court, Thursday (9/1). Photo by Humas MK.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—For the third time, students affiliated with the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country\' Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) visited the Constitutional Court (MK). Some 47 students watched a hearing at the Court on Thursday (9/1/2020).

Assisted by protocol staff of the Court, the students and four ACICIS staff members were invited to watch the judicial review hearing of Law No. 18 of 2017 on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PPMI Law). The students were impressed with the orderly and punctual hearing and some praised the justices when giving recommendations to the petitioners.

After watching the Court proceeding, the students returned to the Delegation Room to receive explanation from senior researcher Pan Mohamad Faiz about four authorities and one obligation of the Court. Faiz explained that the Court\'s main authority is reviewing laws against the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court is also authorized to decide on authority dispute among state institutions whose authorities were granted by the 1945 Constitution, and decide on the dissolution of political parties. "In the era of President Soekarno and President Soeharto, for example, the dissolution of political parties was carried out with political mechanisms. However, after the Reform and the formation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, the dissolution of political parties must be done through legal mechanisms," Faiz explained.

Faiz added that the Court is authorized to decide on disputes over election results. According to the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK), the Constitutional Court\'s decision regarding the petition for disputes on the results of the presidential and vice presidential election shall be decided no later than 14 (fourteen) working days after the petition is recorded in the constitutional case registration book (BRPK). The Constitutional Court\'s decision regarding the petition for disputes over the results of the general elections shall be decided no later than 30 (thirty) working days after the petition is recorded in the BRPK.

Faiz also said that the Constitutional Court is obligated to decide on the House\'s opinion of alleged violation committed by the president and/or vice president (impeachment). In addition, based on Law No. 8 of 2015, the Constitutional Court is authorized to decide on the dispute over the election results of governors, regents, and mayors before a special court is established.

Faiz also touched on the hierarchy of laws and regulations in Indonesia. He explained the functions of the Constitutional Court as the guardian of the Constitution, the final interpreter of the Constitution in the sense that no other institution is authorized to interpret the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court also functions as the guardian of democracy, the protector of citizens\' constitutional rights, and the protector of human rights. (Nano Tresna Arfana)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti