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Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah speaking at a webinar organized by KoDe Inisiatif, Tuesday (18/8) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court’s (MK) Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah spoke at a webinar entitled “Public Discussion on the Constitutional Court’s 17^th Anniversary: Paradigm Reorientation and Institutional Reorganization” on Tuesday afternoon, August 18, 2020. The webinar was organized by KoDe (Konstitusi dan Demokrasi) Inisiatif, an independent research organization on constitutional law and democracy.

"We informally refer to the Constitutional Court’s authorities as 5 + 1, meaning five main authorities and 1 additional authority. The resolution of regional head election cases is [its] additional authority. Of the five main authorities of the Constitutional Court, the authorities to decide on the dissolution of political parties and on the opinion of the House if the president and/or the vice president violate the law have not been exercised," said Guntur Hamzah, who delivered a presentation on "The Development in the Exercise of the Constitutional Court’s Authorities."

The Court’s authority to review laws against the 1945 Constitution, Guntur said, is its core business. It is divided into formal and material reviews. The Court’s decisions also undergo developments as the Court now accommodates conditionally constitutional and conditionally unconstitutional in terms of interpretation of the law.

"Including what is now in the center of public attention, based on the Constitutional Court Decision Number 138/PUU-VII/2009 there are three parameters. First, there is an urgent need to resolve legal problems quickly under the law. Second, the law that is needed is not yet available, so there is a legal vacuum, or there is a law but it is not sufficient. Third, the legal vacuum cannot be resolved by making laws in the usual procedure because it will take a long time. All the while, this urgent situation needs certain resolution," he explained. Guntur also said that the resolution of disputes over the results of general elections have had significant developments.

Guntur then explained that the Constitutional Court decisions for 17 years have been developing in four phases. First, when Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court was passed, the Court was granted five main authorities, which continued until the second phase under the leadership of the Court’s first chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie when a decision on the Regional Government Law gave the Court the authority to resolve the results of regional head elections (pilkada).

“In the third phase, under the leadership of Hamdan Zoelva, the Court issued a decision that the disputes over pilkada results are not the Court’s authority. In the fourth phase under the leadership of Arief Hidayat, the authority over the disputes over pilkada results was included. It is [now] an additional authority.” He said.

He added that now the Court was still in transition, because disputes over pilkada results are supposed to be handled by a special judicial body. “Before the special judicial body is establish, [the Court] is still in transition,” he stressed.

The Court is supported by the registrar’s office in judicial administration and the secretariat general in general administration. “Both systems must be strong in offering support to the Court,” Guntur added.

The Court also continues to improve, starting from improving the ethics council, improving its procedural law, initiating budget independence, offering annotations, as well as conducting monitoring, evaluation, and e-minutes.

Special Gift

Guntur expressed his gratitude to KoDe Inisiatif who has conducted reviews of the Court’s decisions, including the total number of decisions in 17 years and how long the Court arrives at a decision.

“It’s an honor for the Constitutional Court to receive a special gift from KoDe Inisiatif that’s a strategic partner of the Court,” he said in the webinar, which was attended by Constitutional Justice of 2003-2008 and 2015-2020 I Dewa Gede Palguna, constitutional law professor of Padjajaran University Susi Dwi Harijanti, Simon Butt from the University of Sydney Law School, director of Andalas University’s Center for Constitutional Studies (Pusako) Feri Amsari, KoDe Inisiatif chairman Veri Junaidi, coordinator for constitution and state administration of KoDe Inisiatif Violla Reininda, academics, and the general public.

Guntur said that the Constitutional Court currently has digital database of high accuracy as well as an internal case management information system with electronic certification. All Court staff members and the constitutional justices can observe case management, number of cases, and duration of case resolution in the database.

The Court has passed 2,720 decisions out of 2,775 incoming cases. “The incoming cases are those that have been registered through e-BRPK or the electronic constitutional case registration book. We count the number of incoming cases since registration until decision. That’s how we count how long each case is resolved,” Guntur explained.

He also responded to reviews by KoDe Inisiatif on the number of cases and Court decisions until today, which differ from that observed by the Court. “KoDe Inisiatif counts the cases based on incoming cases, in the form of petitions. There is a possibility that the petitions are revised and not registered yet. The difference in the number of cases is also caused by [different] perceptions on workdays and calendar days,” he said.

Writer: Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor: Nur R.
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 8/24/2020 14:54 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case where any differences occur between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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