Panel petition revision hearing of the judicial review of the Narcotics Law, Monday (16/11) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court (MK) held another material judicial review hearing of the Elucidation to Articles 111 and 114 of Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics on Monday, November 2, 2020.

At the hearing, attorney Singgih Tomi Gumilang said the Petitioner had revised the petition. In the revised petition, the norms challenged are Article 111 paragraph (2) along the word “tree” and Article 114 paragraph (2) along the word “tree” of Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics. In the elaboration of the Court’s authority, the Petitioner added the phrase “other trees” as referred in Article 1 point 14 of Law No. 18 of 2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction. “We also found the [definition of] the [word] ‘tree’ in a journal published by the North Sumatera University, and we have attached it,” Singgih said.

Singgih added that his team had compared cases where obvious legal disparity occurred: case No. 111/Pid.Sus/2017/PN Sag, No. 1512/Pid.Sus/2018/PNLbp, No. 1203/Pid.Sus/2019/PN Gps, No. 513/Pid.Sus/2020/PN Denpasar, and No. 1285/Pid.Sus/2020/PN Sby regarding the Petitioner.

Also read: Man Charged with Possession of Marijuana Plants Challenges Narcotics Law

The case No. 86/PUU-XVIII/2020 was filed by Ardian Aldiano, a defendant at the Surabaya District Court, who was charged for growing 27 marijuana plants hydroponically for personal use. He had started smoking marijuana as treatment for his seizures, which then made him addicted. To the Court, he expressed his wish to be free from addiction, proven by a copy of his medical records of narcotics rehabilitation from Garuda Gandrung Satria (GAGAS) Foundation.

The Petitioner had suffered constitutional impairment due to the enactment of the articles, especially regarding the right to recognition, guarantee, protection, and legal certainty, due to the lack of a clear definition of the word “tree” in Articles 111 and 114 of the Narcotics Law. He believes the ambiguity of the word “tree” in Article 111, Article 114 paragraph (2), and the Elucidation to Article 111 of the Narcotics Law has compelled the Public Prosecutor of the East Java High Court to charge him with a crime to nine years of imprisonment including pretrial detention and a fine of one billion rupiahs or a three-month detention.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
PR: Andhini S. F.
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 11/17/2020 12:17 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.