Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra delivering a public lecture on “The Enforcement of Law amid Pandemic: Opportunities and Challenges” for the freshmen orientation of the Law Postgraduate Program of Andalas University, Friday (9/3/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Ilham W.M.

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Friday, September 3, 2021 | 17:41 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—In any situation, including a pandemic, the state’s goals should remain, said Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra in a virtual public lecture for the freshmen orientation of the Law Postgraduate Program of Andalas University on Friday morning, September 3, 2021.

Justice Saldi said that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Constitutional Court (MK) avoided crowding in the courtroom, so the hearings were carried out virtually. It is possible for judicial review cases, but the settlement of regional head election dispute cases could not be done entirely online. Instead, some of the litigating parties must come in person while complying with strict health protocol.

“It is because in case of the regional head election, concrete cases are also settled, so it depends on evidence, which has to be verified in the courtroom. In the last regional head election dispute cases, the petitioners always have their representative(s) come to the Court because at one point the justices will validate the evidence,” he revealed.

Justice Saldi said that the Court exercised caution in filtering the people who can enter the courtroom. “The effort to enforce the law cannot be postponed. So, hearings must inevitably take place. It is one of the challenges,” he said.

He also said that lawmaking during a crisis situation would not be the same as it was in normal conditions such as before the pandemic. “The abnormal situation must be seen from a different perspective. However, basic matters should not be disregarded, for examples, legal drafters must still follow the stages stipulated in laws and regulations. [Public] participation is mandatory even during the pandemic. It might not be possible to fulfill all the requirements, but at least the formal ones are met,” he said.

Justice Saldi believes that the law must accommodate responses to crisis situations. When things are back to normal, the implementation must return to what it was before the pandemic.

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 9/9/2021 15:03 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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