---

Saturday, March 20, 2021 | 16:59 WIB

Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra speaking at a lecture by state institution experts organized by publisher oleh PT RajaGrafindo Persada, Saturday (20/3/2021). Photo by Humas MK.

JAKARTA, Public Relations—In understanding state institutions, legal researchers shouldn’t stop at the text of the Constitution and statutory laws. There is much lesson to learn about state institutions with comprehensive approach to court decisions, including those of the Constitutional Court concerning the state institutions in question, said Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra at a lecture by state institution experts organized by publisher oleh PT RajaGrafindo Persada on Saturday, March 20, 2021. In the virtual lecture, Justice Saldi talked about the topic discussed in his book Lembaga Negara: Konsep, Sejarah, Wewenang, dan Dinamika Konstitusional (State Institutions: Concept, History, Authority, and Constitutional Dynamics). Also attending the lecture are the Islamic University of Riau’s law faculty dean Admiral and constitutional law lecturer Moza Dela Fudika.

Before 100 participants of the lecture, Justice Saldi said that the issue of state institutions has been widely discussed by experts. Nevertheless, he tried to discuss state institutions more specifically in his book, not only how the Constitution details their functions, authorities, and duties, but also how the Constitutional Court decisions in relation to state institutions change or redefine those matters. In one of the book’s chapters on constitutional dynamics, he also elaborates on the Court’s response since 2003 to 2019 to issues pertaining to state institutions.

Justice Saldi said that the book was inspired by reference books on the legal practices of US judicial institutions. After reading and reviewing books on legal issues pertaining to state institutions in Indonesia, he decided to write about them in relation to the Constitutional Court decisions.

“In this book, I tried to observe state institutions in relation to 20 Constitutional Court decisions. I also used the approach that the Constitutional Court used in defining state institutions: main and supporting groups of state institutions,” he explained.

The Andalas University professor admitted that many Constitutional Court decisions have redefined state institutions, especially through the correction of laws that were deemed unconstitutional. He illustrated it in the relationship between the president, the DPR (House of Representatives), and the DPD (Regional Representatives Council) in lawmaking. He stated that through Decision No. 92/PUU-X/2012, the Constitutional Court introduced the bipartite and tripartite approaches. They were originally used in pedagogy, but the Court used them to discuss the relationship between those three state institutions. In practice, any bill regarding the authorities of the president and the House can be discussed through the bipartite approach.

“Any bill requires discussion only between the president, represented by an appointed minister, and the House, not between the president and House factions. Even though this decision has not been implemented until today, the Court has provided such methods,” Justice Saldi explained.

Justice Saldi also talked about a Constitutional Court decision that defined the phrase “a general elections commission” in Article 22E paragraph (5) of Law No. 32 of 2004 not as a single institution. As a consequence, the General Elections Commission (KPU), the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), and the Election Organizer Ethics Council (DKPP) were established.

“So, the KPU, Bawaslu, and DKPP [were established thanks to] a decision by the Constitutional Court. The general elections commission is not only limited to the KPU, but also to other institutions. This was a reinterpretation that the Constitutional Court introduced,” said Justice Saldi, who has published 7-8 books on law, government, and constitutionalism as a constitutional justice.

Justice Saldi concluded his presentation by urging the academics, including university students, to study the law on state institutions comprehensively. He hoped that their discussion is not only limited to the text of the Constitution, but also the developments of state institutions. He also welcomed the lecture’s participants to ask questions to improve their understanding of the lecture’s material.

Writer: Sri Pujianti
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.

Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti
Editor: NL

Translation uploaded on 3/20/2021 23:52 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.

---