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Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo speaking at an online Special Education of Professional Advocate (PKPA) Batch VIII organized by the Law Faculty of As-Syafi’iyah Islamic University in collaboration with DPN Peradi on Saturday (3/10/2020) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Procedural law is related to the instruments that must an advocate understand when enforcing material laws relating to problems faced by the principal petitioners. Without it, an advocate or attorney may not be able to fight for their clients’ constitutional rights and justice, said Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo when opening an online Special Education of Professional Advocate (PKPA) Batch VIII organized by the Law Faculty of As-Syafi’iyah Islamic University in collaboration with DPN Peradi on Saturday, October 3, 2020 through Zoom. “An advocate wouldn’t be able to fight for their clients’ constitutional rights in the Constitutional Court without understanding the Court’s procedural law,” he said.

He said the procedural law in the Constitutional Court depends on the Court’s authority it is related to. The Court’s authorities based on the Constitution are examining laws against the 1945 Constitution, deciding on authority disputes among state institutions, deciding on the dissolution of political parties, and deciding on disputes over election results. The Court is also obligated to decide on the House’s opinion on an alleged violation of law committed by the president and/or vice president according to the 1945 Constitution. The Court also has an additional authority to rule on regional elections that is not mandated by the Constitution.

He said that the judicial review is formal and/or material. The judicial review isn’t related to contented, adversarial cases, and only has petitioners and no respondents. There are relevant parties in the cases, and the House and the president are testifiers.

“The Government and the House explain things at the Court’s request. A petitioner’s petition leads the Court to summon the House/Government on the formal and material review of a product of law made by the legislature,” he explained.

Justice Suhartoyo then talked more about the difference between material and formal judicial reviews. In a material review, the substance of a law is reviewed, and in a formal one the formation process is. A law whose formation is deemed violating statutory provisions can be petitioned in the Constitutional Court in its entirety as formal defects have been found. The deadline for such a review is 45 days after the law is promulgate. Past that deadline, the petition will be struck out.

The parties who can file a petition to the Constitutional Court are Indonesian citizens, customary law communities, private and public legal entities, as well as state institutions. They can be assisted by prospective advocates. Petitioners can study the format of a petition off the Court’s website mkri.id.

To file a petition, the principal petitioner must argue for their constitutional rights that are specifically, actually, or potentially violated by the law. There is a causal relationship between the impairment and the law petitioned for review. If the petition is granted, the constitutional impairment will potentially not occur again.

“The public often questions why in the Constitutional Court the term “petition”, not “lawsuit,” is used. It is because there is not respondent [in the case] and the decision affects all citizens saja (erga omnes). Since 2009, the hearings, starting from filing the petitions, can be done online. The Court collaborates with 42 universities to hold [remote hearings through video conference]. So, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Court has implemented remote hearings,” he explained.

Writer: Sri Pujianti
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/13/2020 12:20 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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