Monday, April 26, 2021 | 09:48 WIB
Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra speaking at a virtual event organized by the Indonesian Moot Court Community Association, Sunday (25/4/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.
JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra gave a virtual lecture on “Hearings and Decisions” on Sunday, April 25, 2021. The lecture, moderated by M. Afdhal Alfarisyi, was organized by the Indonesian Moot Court Community Association (HKPSI).
Justice Saldi began his lecture by explaining the Constitutional Court’s (MK) authorities mandated by Article 24C of the 1945 Constitution. He said that the Court’s main authority was to review laws against the 1945 Constitution when they are petitioned by individual citizens, private/public legal entities, state institutions, or customary law communities. These petitioners can petition, formally or materially, any law that violates their constitutional rights.
Next, he explained how to file for a petition. A petitioner must register their petition at the Registrar’s Office online or in person at the registration booth. The Registrar’s Office then checks whether their documents meet the formal administrative requirements, which cover their profile and the attachments. When the documents are complete, the petition is registered in the constitutional case registration book (BRPK) and receives a number.
Then, the Registrar’s Office forwards the petition to the Chief Justice along with a proposed panel of justices to begin a preliminary check. Each of the justices has a list of cases that they handle, making case management transparent and balanced. The case is then distributed to the panel, whose chair schedules the preliminary hearing.
In each case, each constitutional justice is assisted by two researchers, a judicial secretary, and a general secretary. After the case gets to the justice’s desk, the petition is studied by the justices and their researchers. The researchers then report the results of the preliminary study, which are then combined with the justice’s notes. This is the basis with which the justice offers recommendations at the preliminary hearing.
“Normally, all the justices have read the petition read out by the petitioner at the preliminary hearing. At the preliminary hearing, the petitioner usually receives the justices’ recommendations on their petition,” Justice Saldi said to the 117 students within HKPSI.
Parts of Petition
Justice Saldi then explained the parts of a petition. First, the petitioner’s profile and the Court’s authority in adjudicating such cases, which shows that the Court’s is authorized to rule on the case based on statutory law. There is no need to be wordy with this part. The petitioner only needs to quote the norms related to the Court’s authority to rule on this particular case.
Second, the petitioner’s legal standing in the case. This must be explained to convince the Court that the petitioner really has a right to file the petition, due to loss of constitutional rights, factually or potentially.
“If the petitioner cannot explain their legal standing, there will be ground for the Court to declare the petition NO (Niet Ontvankelijk Verklaard) [inadmissible due to formal defects]. This legal standing is key to start the petition, so it must be elaborated on in a way that concretely exemplify the petitioner’s loss of constitutional rights in order to emphasize that the enactment of the law have harmed them,” he said.
Third, the background to the petition. Justice Saldi said that this explanation must be based on the reason the norms are in violation of the 1945 Constitution. He compared this part to the academic and theoretical justification of an academic piece.
Stages of Hearings
The Court will then hold a public hearing. At the preliminary hearing, after hearing the justices’ recommendations, the petitioner has 14 workdays to revise their petition. before concluding the hearing, the panel of justices also approves of the evidence. It is imperative that the petitioner provide sufficient evidence to support their argument.
The panel then holds a short meeting to discuss the continuation of the petition, usually two days after the preliminary hearing. The results of the meeting are then reported to the justice deliberation meeting (RPH). At the RPH, the panel explains the law being petitioned and the petitioner’s legal standing.
Next, the Court holds evidentiary hearings, whose length depends on number/amount of experts, witnesses, and evidence. Then each of the justices drafts a legal opinion to be explained at another RPH.
“So, there could be 1 or even 9 opinions to a case. The case will be studied until [the justices] come at a final position—to reject or grant the petition. After the composition is clear, a justice will be tasked with drafting the decision. This drafter was in the panel that heard the case. In addition, junior registrars are involved since the beginning to prepare a decision,” Justice Saldi explained.
At the end of the lecture, Justice Saldi gave the students an opportunity to ask questions and offer recommendations or rebuttal of the materials that he covered.
Writer: Sri Pujianti
Editor: Nur R.
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 4/26/2021 14:24 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.
Monday, April 26, 2021 | 09:48 WIB 305