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Chief Justice Anwar Usman speaking at a virtual national webinar organized by the Law Faculty of Airlangga University, Friday (18/12/2020) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Anwar Usman spoke at the national webinar on “The Challenges of Constitutionalism and the Law-Based State in Democratic Societies” on Friday afternoon, December 18, 2020. The event was organized by the Law Faculty of Airlangga University in collaboration with the law faculties of Trunojoyo University (Madura), Haluoleo University, Mulawarman University, Nusa Cendana University, and Borneo University (Tarakan).

Justice Anwar explained the amendment to the 1945 Constitution in 1999-2002, which gave birth to the Constitutional Court, was the perfect momentum to build Indonesian civilization and state administration towards a constitutional law-based state. The Constitution as the basic law of the state, the supreme law of the land, must be the foundation and guidance for all elements in running the state administration.

“There is no reason, however small, not to follow the Constitution. If the constitution is not obeyed, the state foundation will be weak because the constitution is the basic law of the state. On the other hand, if the constitution is upheld, the foundation of the state will be firm,” he stressed.

Justice Anwar said German constitutional expert Otto Kirchheimer said the success of a revolution or change in society cannot be separated from the constitution. Revolution or changes in society are related to efforts to build a civilization and state administration. Without a constitution, it is impossible for a civilization, civility, and order of state governance to be realized, because the constitution is the rule of the game for state administration.

Furthermore, he said, in a democratic social order, naturally a society greater in number will dominate the state administration, both structurally and substantially, whereas law enforcement and the supremacy of the constitution do not recognize majority domination or, in contrast, minority tyranny. The essence of law enforcement and the supremacy of the constitution must be directed towards the realization of justice for every citizen without exception.

"Therefore, the principle of equality before the law and a transparent judicial system is the key to realizing justice. The challenges to the constitutionalism of a democratic constitutional state are the very rapid development of information and communications technology advances and the current pandemic," he said.

The development of information and communications technology (ICT) has been so rapid lately. It at least it has had two impacts: the mixing of good and bad or true and false information (post-truth era) and changes in social order in various established fields (the era of distrust).

"In an era often referred to as post-truth, the public is being swayed by information from various media. The rapid development especially occurs in digital media, which can provide information rapidly even in real time. The information may be true, but if conveyed in a subjective narrative and placed on an object that is not real, it can mislead the public and can lead to public distrust or public disorder," Justice Anwar said. 

Factual conditions such as this, he said, have implications on the constitutional enforcement carried out by state officials in judicial institutions. A court decision will never be able to satisfy all parties. Those who benefited from the verdict naturally feel it fair. However, those who feel aggrieved feel they are far from justice.

"Misinformation about court decisions can cause public disorder and public distrust to the judiciary. If this happens, it will be difficult to achieve a democratic law-based state," he stressed.

In strengthening constitutionalism in order to enforce democratic law, the Constitutional Court provides constitutional interpretation in each of its decisions on judicial review cases. All boils down to efforts to uphold the Constitution and protect the constitutional rights of citizens.

"The most important thing in issuing a Constitutional Court decision is two things: a transparent process and decisions based on objective facts revealed in the trial," Justice Anwar said. 

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

Translation uploaded on 12/22/2020 23:28 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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