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Chief Justice Anwar Usman delivering a keynote speech and opening Batch I of Technical Assistance Program on Legal Drafting, collaboration with the Law and Human Rights Ministry and APHTN-HAN, Monday (26/7/2021) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center. Photo by Humas MK/Hendy.

Monday, July 26, 2021 | 23:27 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK), in collaboration with the Law and Human Rights Ministry and the Association of Constitutional and Administrative Law Lectures of Indonesia (APHTN-HAN), held a technical assistance program (bimtek) on Legal Drafting Batch I. The program was opened virtually on Monday evening, July 26, 2021.

As the keynote speaker, Chief Justice Anwar Usman said the program was aimed at refreshing the participants’ memory on the drafting of legislation, both formally and materially. He stated that the key substance was to fulfill the principles of humanity and social justice, religious value and unity, as well as understanding and tolerance, following Pancasila values.

“So [it is expected] that the legal drafting, aside from having benefits and certainty, also fulfills the sense of justice for all people,” he said.

Justice Anwar added that the Constitutional Court expected that legislation would not end in judicial review, be repealed in part or entirely for not meeting the formal and material aspects in the formulation.

“We al hope that legislation that is drafted and produced has fulfilled the sense of justice for all people and is according to the national and state objectives, pursuant to paragraph 4 of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution. The judicial review mechanism in the Constitutional Court should be the last resort for checks and balances between state organs and to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens,” he stressed.

Designing Legal Drafting

Meanwhile, the Acting Head of the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center Imam Margono said that the Court has a stake in the harmonization of legislation. The Court’s legal drafting program in collaboration with the Law and Human Rights Ministry and APHTN-HAN was aimed at educating participants on the Court’s legal product, the harmonization of legislation, as well as the formulation of academic texts and the proper lawmaking techniques.

“The technical assistance program will take place for five days, from Monday, July 26 to Friday, July 30, 2021. The program is followed by 100 participants virtually. Until today, the alumni of this program have has reached 30,064 people from various backgrounds. The events range from technical assistance program to programs to improve understanding of the citizens’ constitutional rights,” Imam explained.

The program will cover “The Legal Politics of Legislation and the Interpretation of the Constitution,” “The Procedural Law of Judicial Review,” “Lawmaking Process,” “Types and Hierarchy of Legislation,” “Harmonization of Legislation,” “Moot Legislation,” and “Formulation of Norms.”

Overregulation

Next, the Director-General of Legislation of the Law and Human Rights Ministry Benny Riyanto said that in the globalization era, countries are becoming more competitive. In order to support it, quality legislation must be formed and implemented well in society.

“Indonesia has a very high number of pieces of legislation compared to other countries, especially the surrounding countries. As we know, legislation in Indonesia increases each year, although Indonesia adopts the civil law system. As a consequence, there are legislative bodies,” he explained.

Benny revealed that regulations under laws have also increased significantly, resulting in overregulation, a disadvantage to Indonesia. Indonesia is always left behind in business competition, for example, it is in the 73rd place in terms of ease of business, while Singapore is in the 2nd place. The reason is the complexity of regulations and overlapping regulations, causing conflicting norms.

Meanwhile, APHTN-HAN secretary-general Bayu Dwi Anggono said the program was the result of very good cooperation between the Constitutional Court, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and APHTN-HAN. The participants are lecturers across the country that affiliated with APHTN-HAN, either as managers or members. The participants’ varied locations show inclusivity, which is important because the Constitutional Court and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights belong to everyone.

Bayu said the fact that academics from various universities joined the program showed intellectual meeting to both the Constitutional Court and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. “I believe this great program will improve [participants’] sense of belonging of the Constitutional Court and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights,” he stressed.

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

Translation uploaded on 7/27/2021 17:05 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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