Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat giving a keynote speech at a national seminar on “Ethics in the Judicial Process in the Constitutional Court” at UIN Alauddin, Gowa, Friday (10/29/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Ilham W.M.

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Friday, October 29, 2021 | 15:16 WIB

MAKASSAR, Public Relations—A justice’s independence is shown in how they decide on a case, said Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat at a national seminar on “Ethics in the Judicial Process in the Constitutional Court,” organized by the Constitutional Court (MK) in collaboration with UIN Alauddin (State Islamic University) of Makassar at the university’s rectorate building in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Friday, October 29, 2021.

“What I understand is that so far independence is only understood in relation to decisions that are accounted for physically, but for me, independence also means being responsible to [God Almighty],” he said.

One form of a justice’s ethics is independence, which brings about dissenting opinions, which is the justice’s personal responsibility to show independence. Furthermore, he said, legal principles or concepts from other civilizations cannot be applied as they might not match existing situations. Another form of a justice’s ethics is impartiality, which is strongly influenced by their background. Impartiality, he added, is very difficult for a justice to apply.

The next form of ethics, he said, is equality. A justice must treat everyone equally. Skill and thoroughness are the form of next ethics constitutional justices must possess.

“The Constitutional Court Law requires that a constitutional justice has at least a doctoral degree, in contrast to other positions that do not set a minimum requirement. The requirement for statesmanship also only applies to Constitutional Court justices. No other positions in Indonesia requires statesmanship,” he revealed.

Integrity and discretion are the fifth ethical principle for a constitutional justice. Justice Arief said constitutional justices must really limit interactions with others.

“One of the ways to maintain integrity is, during the [regional election (pilkada)], by avoiding buying business class airplane tickets, in order to avoid election contestants. So, while taking office as a constitutional justice, I live like a hermit, far from anyone, even though as a lecturer I used to make friends with everyone,” he added.

Politics, Religion, Technological Disruption in Indonesia

Indonesia must be managed in accordance with the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution and Pancasila. Muslim majority countries uphold different ideologies. Turkey is a secular state, Pakistan integrates religion and state, while Indonesia formed a synergy between religion and state. Similarly, Indonesia’s democracy is based on Pancasila and belief in One Supreme God.

Justice Arief also said that technological advances have eliminated physical boundaries, so we must question whether the country still has boundaries. He reminded that if the people do not adapt to those advances, they will be uprooted culturally. He also reminded everyone that in the current era of post-truth, false news repeated on social media might become public truth.

Ethics Giving Way to Constitution

Before Justice Arief gave his presentation, UIN Alauddin Rector Hamdan Juhannis said in his speech that ethics and legal values in decision-making are the foundation to regular life and human values. He said when ethics goes against aesthetics, or aesthetics exist without ethics, we will become like animals. Therefore, he believes ethics is important because it is the universal basis of morality.

He further said that ethics determines the sustainability of human civilization, including the constitution. One of the highlights of ethics is local wisdom, which he believes is infinitely relevant because where a constitution always exists alongside ethics.

Writer        : Ilham W.M.
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 11/2/2021 20:40 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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