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Constitutional Justice speaking in a webinar on the 20^th anniversary of hukumonline.com on Tuesday (14/7) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—As the Constitutional Court (MK) will hold a massive number of regional election dispute hearings, it must prepare parallel courtrooms for online hearing, said Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra in a webinar on the 20^th anniversary of hukumonline.com entitled "The Future of the Legal Field in the New Normal" on Tuesday, July 14, 2020.

"The Constitutional Court already built a system for online hearing, but now it must be done massively because of this pandemic. Not all parties related to the case can come to the courtroom because there are strict health protocols that must be obeyed. Online hearing will meet the court needs in the Constitutional Court," Justice Saldi explained. Supreme Court Justice Sofyan Sitompul and Jentera School of Law lecturer Bivitri Susanti also spoke at the webinar.

Justice Saldi said that the justice system also suffers the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and has to adapt to the circumstances. The Constitutional Court has utilized ICT for quite some time, so it only needed to make some adjustments to continue its proceedings during the pandemic. The biggest concern is security, he said.

Transformation of Technology

Supreme Court Justice Sofyan Sitompul said that since February 2020, the government has issued regulations to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak and adapted to it. The Supreme Court ensured that court services are optimal and based on technology. He hopes the Supreme Court will always follow the developments of ICT.

He said that the pandemic drove the Supreme Court to adapt, despite having applied an e-court system since 2010. By maximizing the use of technology and minimizing face-to-face meeting, it is expected that the criminal justice system in the whole nation can prepare the e-court by forming work groups.

The Supreme Court is preparing open, swift, cost-effective electronic-based criminal justice system with the support of 208 articles. The remote hearing will not limit the rights of all litigants to obtain justice, but instead assist them.

Evaluation during Crisis

Jentera School of Law lecturer Bivitri Susanti observed many changes in the legal world due to the pandemic, not only in court proceedings but also in education. The COVID-19 outbreak forced all fields to use technology more. However, she expressed her disagreement about the term “new normal.” She believes the term is unnecessary in the legal context as it is based on citizens’ rights. She would like the legal world to self-evaluate in terms of legal framework, fulfillment of rights, and organization.

She believes that the latest laws drafted in emergency should be evaluated. She added that Indonesia already has relevant laws such as the Law of Health Quarantine, but she believes that the Indonesian government was slow in responding to the issue. She said that no government was prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. The government’s response is reflected in its public policies, which are data-driven and related to ethical issues. However, at least the central and regional governments continue to coordinate with each other and state agencies use technology to adapt with the situation. All parties must be aware of the importance of data in making policies to fulfill the citizens’ rights, she concluded. (Sri Pujianti/NRA)

Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti

Translation uploaded on 7/15/2020

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