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Wednesday, March 3, 2021 | 21:12 WIB

Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah speaking at a webinar organized by the Constitutional Court; the MPR; the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security; and APHTN-HAN, Wednesday (3/3/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Panji.

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) collaborated with the Association of Constitutional and Administrative Law Lectures of Indonesia (APHTN-HAN) held a national webinar on “Democracy and Intellectual Reason: The Role of APHTN-HAN in National Development” on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 in Jakarta. The event was a collaboration between the Constitutional Court; the MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly); the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security; the Defense Intelligence Agency (BIP), and APHTN-HAN. It was held both onsite and online, following strict health protocol.

Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah in his remarks said that the webinar was a part of the inauguration of APHTN-HAN coordinators. The first speaker was the first Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Jimly Asshiddiqie with a presentation on “Present and Future Intellectual Attitudes and Challenges of Constitutional Law and State Administrative Law Scientists.”

“The title [of the presentation] was the result of my discussion with Prof. Jimly. We were going with the theme because it would fit the main theme ‘Democracy and Intellectual Reason,’” said Guntur, who is chairing APHTN-HAN for 2021-2025.

The themes of the webinar and Prof. Jimly’s presentation were to be further elaborated by three speakers: Fritz Edward Siregar, Yuliandri, dan I Gusti Ayu Ketut Rachmi Handayani. The presentations would be followed by a discussion.

Guntur understands the challenges faced by today’s intellectuals and intellectual communities. He said that togetherness, rational thinking, adherence to academic principles, and systematic reasoning will aid in the dissemination of pithy and critical constitutional and state administrative ideas and in providing constructive solution to the advancement of the state and nation.

Collaboration between Constitutional Law and State Administrative Law

Jimly Asshiddiqie urged the participants to participate in academic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic without congregating in person or leaving their residences. He revealed that almost every day during the pandemic, he has been giving lectures to participants from Sabang to Merauke. “Sometimes I even offer [organizers] to invite me, free of charge,” he said.

He said that today’s lives are changing. Along with the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), he said, the law has to change.

He also stressed that the constitutional law and state administrative law should collaborate and share the work. The state administrative law has been often overlooked. “We should share the burden because the studies of the constitutional law and state administrative law are vast,” he added.

Jimly also said that the state administrative law is not only about the positive law, but also universal knowledge. It shouldn’t be limited to the articles of the Constitution. “If we only focus on the text of our Constitution, we will be left behind,” he stressed.

Writer: Nur R.
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari

Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti
Editor: NL

Translation uploaded on 3/4/2021 18:54 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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