Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo speaking at the Special Education of Professional Advocate Batch III by IBLAM Higher School of Law and the national executive board of Peradi, Saturday (10/9/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

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Saturday, October 9, 2021 | 17:23 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Prospective advocates must understand procedural laws, an instrument that they must understand to deal with the problems faced by the petitioners/applicants. Without it, advocates or legal representatives may not be able to do anything or even to fight for the constitutional rights and justice for their clients, said Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo at the Special Education of Professional Advocate Batch III by IBLAM Higher School of Law and the national executive board (DPN) of the Association of Indonesian Advocates (Peradi) on Saturday, October 9, 2021 virtually.

Similarly, advocates will not be able to fight for their clients’ constitutional rights if they don’t understand the procedural law of the Constitutional Court, he said in his presentation on “The Procedural Law of the Constitutional Court.” This procedural law, he said, depends on the Court’s authorities—examining laws against the Constitution, deciding on authority disputes between state institutions, and deciding on the dissolution of political parties, deciding on disputes over general election results. The Court is also obligated to decide on the House of Representatives’ (DPR) opinion on an alleged violation of law committed by the president and/or vice president. It also has an additional authority to decide on disputes over the regional head elections, which does not come from the Constitution.

He explained that there are formal and material judicial review. The case is not a matter of contention or adversarial. There are no opposing parties, but only the petitioner, without a respondent. In a judicial review the Government and the House may appear before the Court to testify.

“The Government and the House explain things by the Court’s request. Based on the petition, the Court summons the House/Government in relation to the formal/material judicial review of a legal product that the legislature formed,” he said.

Explaining the material and formal judicial review, Justice Suhartoyo explained that material judicial review concerns the content of laws, while formal judicial review concerns the lawmaking process. Any law whose process is deemed unlawful or having formal defects can be petitioned to the Constitutional Court. Such a petition is limited to 45 days after the law is promulgated, after which the petition is inadmissible.

Indonesian individuals or group of citizens, customary law communities, private and public legal entities, as well as state institutions can file a judicial review petition. The petitioner and/or respondent can be assisted or represented by prospective advocates, as the petition format can be studied from the Court’s website.

He explained that the petitioner must argue that their constitutional rights and/or authorities have been harmed by the law being petitioned and the loss is specific and actual, or at least potential due to the enactment of the law. If the petition is granted, the constitutional loss shouldn’t occur again.

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

Translation uploaded on 10/12/2021 17:07 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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