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Tuesday, April 27, 2021 | 14:29 WIB

Sri Bintang Pamungkas (Petitioner) at the material judicial review hearing of Law No. 4 of 1996 on Mortgage over the Land and Objects Related to the Land, Tuesday (27/4/2021) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Lecturer Sri Bintang Pamungkas read out this petition against Law No. 4 of 1996 on Mortgage over the Land and Objects Related to the Land (Mortgage Law) before the Constitutional Court (MK) Tuesday, April 27, 2021. At the preliminary hearing for case No. 10/PUU-XIX/2021, he alleged that Article 6, Article 14 paragraph (3), Article 20 paragraph (2), and Article 21 of the Mortgage Law are in violation of Article 28A, Article 28A paragraph (2), Article 28C paragraph (1), Article 28D paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 28G paragraph (1), Article 28H paragraphs (1) and (4), and Article 28I paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution.

In the petition, the Petitioner claims that Article 14 paragraph (3) of the Mortgage Law must be declared unconstitutional because it offers excessive legal protection to owners of mortgage rights and ignored debtors and givers of mortgage rights. He deems this unlawful, discriminatory, and in violation of Article 27 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. He believes that due to the enactment of the a quo articles, he had lost the right to an existence proper for a human being, and to maintain a livelihood with his wife and children.

The Petitioner also implicitly explained that Article 21 of the Mortgage Law stipulates that debtors are also givers of mortgage rights, when it is not so. He believes that givers of mortgage rights could have the intention to help a poor debtor and improve their life, as he did.

The Petitioner is involved in a concrete case where in early December 2019 he received a letter from the Star Auction action house dated November 13, 2019 that declared that Persil Merapi (the Petitioner’s residence) would be auctioned off on January 14, 2020. The Petitioner had taken various legal measures and came to a BCA branch to discuss the debtor’s credit issues. Despite all of his efforts, he received a notification dated December 10, 2020 regarding the auction, to take place on January 5, 2021 until 13:00 WIB. He was also asked to empty the property.

“Many people are afraid of this threat of auction, so I hope this law will be declared unconstitutional,” Sri Bintang said virtually before a panel chaired by Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo.

Justices’ Advice

Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul advised the Petitioner to study the amendment to procedural law in the Constitutional Court, which is detailed in the Court’s authority. He then highlighted the Petitioner’s legal standing and advised him to mention the Court’s decisions that points out his constitutional rights.

“Elaborate on the constitutional loss, so that it is known whether the Petitioner has legal standing on the norms petitioned, because there are 4 articles petitioned and the Petitioner’s legal standing concerning them must be clear,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams advised the Petitioner to read the norms petitioned in the Court’s Decision No. 84/PUU-XI/2020 and observe the touchstones. He also commented that the legal standing hadn’t been explained properly.

“Another important thing is that the Petitioner hasn’t properly elaborate on the criteria for his constitutional loss following the five requirements in the Court’s regulation,” he said.

Before concluding the hearing, Justice Suhartoyo stated that the Registrar’s Office would notify the Petitioner of the next hearing, so the he should submit the revised petition two hours before the next hearing begins.

Writer: Sri Pujianti
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR: Fitri Yuliana
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 4/28/2021 15:45 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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