Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto speaking virtually at the inauguration of the Southeast Sulawesi Alumni Association Branch of Hasanuddin University, Saturday (9/25/2021). Photo by Humas MK/M. Nur.

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Saturday, September 25, 2021 | 22:09 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto gave an oration on “Socio Equilibrium of the Constitutional Court’s Existence” at the inauguration of the Southeast Sulawesi Alumni Association Branch of Hasanuddin University of 2021-2025 virtually on Saturday, September 25, 2021.

“The phrase socio equilibrium in law is more about checks and balances. One of the objectives of the establishment of the Constitutional Court after the amendment to the 1945 Constitution is checks and balances between power holders, who determine legal norms on one hand. On the other hand, constitutional rights are granted by the Constitution to citizens,” he said.

The Constitutional Court (MK) exists to balance the government and social power, which is obvious from the Court’s duties and functions. Referring to the 1945 Constitution, the Court has four authorities and one obligation.

“The first authority is reviewing laws against the Constitution. In determining a law, the legislature must refer to the basic norms in the Constitution. When a citizen believes that a law degrades or ignores their constitutional rights, which are guaranteed in the Constitution, it must be settled at the Constitutional Court. This is called the material judicial review. Norms of law that conflict with the Constitution can be repealed by the Court,” Justice Aswanto said.

This is why, he said, the Court is often said to be a superbody. This is because phrases or articles of a law that hundreds of House (DPR) members and the Government have created can be repealed by the Court if deemed unconstitutional. If the Court deems the core of the law unconstitutional, the entire law can be declared null and void.

Another authority of the Court is to settle disputes between state institutions, which Justice Aswanto believes to be an issue as too many institutions claim to be state institutions. However, only those whose duties and authorities are granted by the Constitution can file for such a petition.

The Court is also authorized to dissolve political parties, although it has never done so as it has never been petitioned before. Justice Aswanto said this authority is lips service because it may be petitioned by the Government.

“The question is what if the political party is part of the Government’s coalition? Will the Government bring it to the Court to be dissolved? The Court has no reason to reject any case, it’s one of its principle,” he said.

The other authority is to resolve disputes over the result of legislative and presidential elections. There’s also an additional authority to resolve disputes over the result of regional head elections until a special judicial body is established to do so.

The Court also has an obligation to decide on the impeachment of the president and/or vice president if they are proven to have violated the law. If the case is brought to the Court, the House must abide by the Court’s decision.

The Court’s functions, Justice Aswanto said, include protecting the citizens’ constitutional rights for the democratic rule of law and interpreting the Constitution.

“From its duties and authorities, we can see that the Court’s function equals socio equilibrium,” he said. He also talked about the relation between the Court and God-given human rights.

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

Translation uploaded on 9/27/2021 16:15 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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