Chief Justice Anwar Usman and Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat speaking at Bangbang Constitution Village, Bali, Friday (10/22/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Yuwandi.

---

Friday, October 22, 2021 | 18:38 WIB

BALI, Public Relations—Chief Justice Anwar Usman and Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat gave presentations and handed over the Smart Board Mini Court Room to the Constitution Village of Bangbang, Bali on Friday, October 22, 2021. Regent and vice regent of Bangli Sang Nyoman Sedana Arta and I Wayan Diar and Bangli Police Superintendent (AKBP) I Gusti Agung Dhana Aryawan were in attendance.

At the event entitled “The Constitutional Court in the Administration System of the Republic of Indonesia,” Justice Anwar said the constitutional justices uphold the law and justice. He also talked about the Constitutional Court’s authorities that are granted by Article 24C paragraphs (1) and (2) of the 1945 Constitution: to review laws against the 1945 Constitution, to decide on authority disputes between state institutions whose authorities are granted by the 1945 Constitution, to decide on the dissolution of political parties, and to decide on disputes over general election results.

“Any law that harms the citizens’ constitutional rights can be petitioned for judicial review [as long as the Petitioner] is able to prove that an article, phrase, or paragraph in the norm has violated or will potentially violate the citizens’ constitutional rights,” he explained.

Maintaining Cultural Resilience

At the same event, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat talked about the constitution villages. He hoped such villages not only exist in select regions, but all over Indonesia.

He also talked about the extraordinary changes that information technology has brought. In relation to this, the Court has collaborated with 42 universities to provide videoconference facilities. He also said that the Court hopes that constitution villages will also optimize its use of technology.

Justice Arief said the Court not only serves as a judicial body but also the guardian of the state ideology, Pancasila. Pancasila is the most appropriate ideology for Indonesia as it contains values that match the lives of Indonesian people. Indonesia, he said, is a Muslim-majority country but is not an Islamic country; it is a state that is based on Pancasila. 

“Indonesia believes in One Supreme God, and the Constitutional Court must guard the state with justice based in the belief in One Supreme God. Indonesia must be managed with three powers: theocracy, democracy, and nomocracy. So, with technological advances, these three things are needed by the Indonesian people so that they are not deprived of technology,” he said alongside moderator I Made Arya Utama, a law professor at Udayana University.

Justice Arief encouraged all parties to maintain cultural resilience as a response to these technological advances because today colonialism exist not as a physical war but through economy, culture, and law. He appealed to the people of Bangbang Village to become a fortress to maintain their culture.

“Mainly in using social media to create content characterized by Pancasila, […] positive content in accordance with the noble values of the nation so that we can continue to maintain our cultural resilience from economic, legal, and cultural disruption. Let’s keep the nation’s ideology. Let’s protect the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia so that it is not eroded by the era of disruption,” he encouraged.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/26/2021 15:01 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.

---