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Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat delivering a keynote speech in the virtual national seminar hosted by the Law Faculty of the East Java UPN Veteran and the Law Faculty of Trunojoyo University, Wednesday (30/9) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat delivered a keynote speech in the virtual national seminar and call-for-papers on "The Transformation of Law and Technology in Strengthening State Resilience in the New Normal" on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 through Zoom. The event was hosted by the Law Faculty of the East Java UPN Veteran and the Law Faculty of Trunojoyo University.

He delivered a presentation on “Virtual Hearing at the Constitutional Court,” saying that the judiciary shouldn’t cease to give legal certainty, benefits, and justice for justice seekers, but to stand tall to shoulder its duties and roles. This applies to the Constitutional Court, which is also impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the Court has always strived to be a modern, trusted judicial institution that utilizes modern IT during the pandemic. “For example, applying modern IT equipment with supporting resources to hold virtual hearings,” he said.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Court decided to hold off all court hearings, but remained offering online services on its website for health and security reasons. This delayed the legal certainty and justice that justice seekers sought. The fact remained, as William E. Gladstone said, justice delayed is justice denied. Therefore, after much evaluation and analysis, the Court decided to resume all court hearings in person in compliance with strict health protocols. The number of litigating parties who could come in person were limited at maximum five people—attorneys and/or petitioners. The Court also offered the parties to come to the courtroom or to hold the hearing online.

Amid the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in the Jakarta Special Capital, which was reapplied two weeks ago, the Court decided to hold virtual hearings. While the justices attended the hearings in the courtroom, the litigating other can attend them virtually. “At this point, remote hearings (virtual) using the latest IT equipment is the most realistic choice,” Justice Arief said.

Pioneer of Remote Court Hearings

The Constitutional Court pioneered remote court hearings as it has been incorporating video conference facilities since 2009 in its hearings, pursuant to the Constitutional Court Regulation No. 18 of 2009 on the Guidelines on Electronic Filing and Video Conferencing. This video conferencing at the Court is possible thanks to cooperation with law faculties at 43 universities throughout the country. In order to use the facilities for online hearings at the Constitutional Court, petitioners only need to come to the nearest university that offers them.

Justice Arief revealed that the Constitutional Court had even used remote court hearing facilities for the material judicial review of Law No. 22 of 1997 on Narcotics to hear the testimony of Philip Alston, a New York University law lecturer. Alston delivered his expert testimony on April 18, 2007. The Court also hear the testimony of Toby Daniel Mendel, a Canadian expert on freedom of speech presented by Risang Bima Wijaya and Bersihar Lubis, via video conference on July 23, 2008 for the judicial review of Articles 310, 311, 316, and 207 of the Criminal Code (KUHP). This proves the Constitutional Court’s experience in using IT in remote court hearings, which gave it confidence to hold virtual hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Justice Arief also said that there are legal provisions in place to ensure the legal validity of virtual court hearings. The provisions require constitutional justices to be present physically in the Constitutional Court’s courtrooms while the litigating parties could participate from any location virtually. The code of conduct and procedure that apply to conventional hearings also apply to remote court hearings, for example, advocates must wear their toga while others must wear formal attire. Non-compliance to these rules warrant dismissal from the hearing. He revealed that the week before, the justices removed an attorney from the virtual hearing for wearing an attire that didn’t meet the code of conduct.

Virtual court hearings have led to the redefinition of what constitutes a courtroom. At such hearings, the Constitutional Court’s courtroom is expanded beyond its physical room at the Constitutional Court building. However, all within the boundary of a virtual Constitutional Court courtroom is under the control of the constitutional justices and must comply with the Constitutional Court’s code of conduct and procedure regarding court hearings.

“The constitutional justices have the full authority to reprimand, even remove someone from the virtual courtroom. This is all for the smooth running of the hearings and to maintain the Constitutional Court hearing’s dignity. This is certainly a challenge in itself," Justice Arief explained.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Nur R.
Photographer: Gani
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/07/2020 17:18 WIB

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

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