Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat speaking at the technical assistance program for IKA FH Undip by the Constitution Education Center, Wednesday (10/13/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Wijaya.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 | 16:23 WIB
JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat gave a presentation on “The Procedural Law for Judicial Review” on the second day of the technical assistance program (bimtek) on the Constitutional Court’s (MK) procedural law for judicial review by the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center for the Alumni Association of the Law Faculty of Diponegoro University (IKA FH Undip) on Wednesday, October 13, 2021.
He believes that the constitutional implementation of the legislation will be guaranteed effectively if an organ outside of the legislative body is tasked with reviewing constitutional legal products. Therefore, the Constitutional Court was established. In Indonesia, its founding idea already started during the independence, proposed by M. Yamin. However, due to unaccommodating situation, the Court was founded on August 13, 2003 after the Reform and the amendment to the 1945 Constitution.
“The Court has now been around for 18 years. Based on Article 24 of the 1945 Constitution, the judicial power is carried out by the Supreme Court and the courts thereunder as well as the Constitutional Court,” he said before 249 participants who are advocates, state and regional institution officials, entrepreneurs, CSOs, and student activists within IKA FH Undip.
Justice Arief said that the Court is said to the guardian of the Constitution. To exercise this function, the Court reviews laws and their consistency and coherency. Laws drafted organically are based on the Constitution and they are also drafted based on the community’s needs.
The Court is also said to be the final interpreter of the Constitution. In line with this function, Justice Arief said, the Court has adjudicated 1,435 cases. Not even in 5% of them the Court ruled to declare a law unconstitutional. Justice Arief said this is an indication that the public has been aware of the law, so when their constitutional rights are violated, they lodged a petition to the Court.
“Therefore, IKA FH Undip members from various professions hopefully can understand that the petitions granted only account for 5% of all lodged to the Court. Therefore, [this indicates that] the laws drafted by the legislatures are consistent, coherent, and correspond with the Constitution,” he explained.
Looking for Answers
On the same day, former Constitutional Justice I Dewa Gede Palguna (2003-2008, 2015-2020) gave a presentation on “Constitutional Interpretation.” He believes constitutional interpretation concerns the methods and strategies for disputes over the definition or implementation of the Constitution. Therefore, it not only means matching certain events or situations with articles in the Constitution, but also seeking answers to the question of how to view the Constitution and the objectives to achieve.
“Therefore, constitutional interpretation is related to the mechanism to ensure whether the Constitution has been implemented according to the provisions within it and the objectives that it intends to realize,” he explained.
Balance of Power
Next, Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra gave a presentation on the procedural law for judicial review which, according to him, is a consequence for the relations between state institutions. Any constitution contains the structure of the state institutions. Within constitutional law theories, there are at least the legislative, executive, and judiciary (trias politica). He used the US Constitution, made by the parliament or the congress, as an example. In the US, he said, the legislatures are under the parliament or representative bodies.
“However, this does not mean that the president/executive doesn’t have a role in lawmaking, because in a state 99% of bills lie with the executive, which requires legislation to carry out everyday administration,” he explained.
This is different from Indonesia, Justice Saldi added, where the legislatures are the legislative institutions, within which internal overseeing committees exist. However, for the sake of checks and balances, the judiciary, such as the Constitutional Court, was established. The Constitutional Court has the authority to review laws against the 1945 Constitution and, in its development, government regulations in lieu of laws (perppus), which create new norms of law that applies just as laws do.
Also read: Court Holds Training on Procedural Law for Alumni of Diponegoro University’s Law Faculty
The bimtek will be taking place for four days, Tuesday-Friday, October 12-15, 2021. Experts will give presentations—Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat on “The Constitutional Court and the Characteristic of Its Procedural Law,” former Constitutional Justice (2003-2008, 2015-2020) I Dewa Gede Palguna on “Constitutional Interpretation,” and Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra on “The Procedural Law of Judicial Review of Laws Against the 1945 Constitution.” The participants will also practice drafting a judicial review petition both individually and in groups, with the assistance of researchers and deputy registrars.
Writer : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 10/15/2021 13:59 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.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 | 16:23 WIB 246