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Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh speaking at a technical assistance program on the 2020 election of governors, regents, and mayors virtually, Saturday (28/11/2020) from di Jakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Panji.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh spoke at a technical assistance program on the 2020 election of governors, regents, and mayors (pilkada) on Saturday morning, November 28, 2020. The event was organized by the People’s Legal Aid and Advocacy Body of the central executive board (DPP) of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Justice Foekh talked about the procedure in the 2020 pilkada dispute cases.

He said the 2020 simultaneous pilkada has legal bases in Law No. 7 of 2020 on the Third Amendment to Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court; Law No. 48 of 2009 on Judicial Powers; and Law No. 6 of 2020 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2020 on the Third Amendment to Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law; Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law; and the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 6 of 2020 on the Procedure in the Regional Head Election Dispute Cases.

He also explained the litigating parties in pilkada disputes. The petitioner is a pilkada ticket that suffers due to election violations. The respondent is the KPU. Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Agency) is the testifier. The relevant party is the winning ticket. The petitioner, respondent, and/or relevant party can be represented by attorneys through power of attorney and/or accompanied by a counsel through a certificate. Both the power of attorney and certificate must have a duty stamp and signed by the litigating party. One who receives power of attorney can appoint a substitute at a hearing only once. The power of attorney must be signed by the party’s chair and secretary general, otherwise could affect them negatively.

Articles 9, 10, and 11 of PMK No. 6 of 2020 stipulates that a pilkada dispute petition can be filed either offline or online. After the petition is received and registered by the Court, the case proceeds to a panel preliminary examination hearing, which aims to check the completeness and clarity of the material. The justices provide advice to improve the petition and examine and confirm the petitioner’s evidence, and declare the relevant party. “The hearing will go on for seven days, and if the petitioner or their attorney are absent without a valid reason despite being summoned appropriately, the Court will dismiss the petition. On the dismissal, a decree will be read out at a public plenary hearing.

Next, the case goes on to the plenary examination hearings, where the justices hear the testimonies of the witnesses, relevant parties, and experts/witnesses, as well as approve written evidence and other evidence. "There are a lot of other evidence, among them, letters or texts, statements from the parties, testimonies from witnesses and experts, and so on," Justice Foekh explained.

“The pilkada dispute will take place in 45 days since the petition is recorded in [the electronic constitutional case registration book]. The Court may issue a decision or a decree. In addition, the Court may issue an interlocutory decision that orders the respondent and/or another party to do or not to do something concerning the object of dispute, then to report the result to the Court,” he added.

He concluded the presentation by stating that the plenary ruling hearing is open for the public and that that a copy of the ruling will be distributed to the litigating parties no later than 3 days after it is pronounced. “The copy of the decision or decree may be distributed electronically and it will be uploaded on the Court’s website. So, the petitioner or other parties may download or access it directly,” he said.

Writer: Bambang Panji Erawan
Editor: Nur R.
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 12/05/2020 21:04 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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