Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto closing the technical assistance program on procedural law of judicial review for the Indonesian Legislative Drafters Association (IP3I) virtually, Friday (11/12/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Hendy.

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Friday, November 12, 2021 | 16:50 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Aswanto officially closed the technical assistance program (bimtek) on procedural law of judicial review for the Indonesian Legislative Drafters Association (IP3I) on Friday, November 12, 2021. The bimtek took place virtually for four days on Tuesday-Friday, November 9-12, 2021 as collaboration between the Court and IP3I.

“The materials that you received from the bimtek are not only for you, especially as legislative drafters. We hope there are inputs from the bimtek that you can consider when drafting legislation, starting from the lowest level of legislation,” he said. He hoped that legislation by these drafters will have insight on constitutional rights since the beginning.

“You might already be familiar with the materials that panelists of the bimtek give. However, there must be things that we must synchronize as the real life practice might be different [from the theory]. For example, practice drafting judicial review petition that give more comprehensive understandinh,” he explained.

Justice Aswanto stressed that the Constitutional Court’s role as the guardian of human rights wouldn’t be effective without public understanding of constitutional rights. Although the bimtek is on the Constitutional Court’s procedural law, there is a procedure to follow when filing a judicial review petition of norms in the law, which might have degraded constitutional rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution.

Before the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, he revealed, constitutional amendment was impossible. After it was done, the Court was founded in order to guard the norms in a law so that they do not go against the basic norms in the Constitution.

“That is our hope. Sometimes hopes and reality differs. The thousands of cases that the Court has handled are proof that hopes and reality might differ. Our hope is so that citizens’ constitutional rights are broken down in laws and really be the manifestation of human rights as guaranteed in the Constitution,” Justice Aswanto explained.

Constitutional Court’s Role

Acting Head of the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center Imam Margono in his speech talked about the Constitutional Court’s role in the state administration. The also said that the Court has a responsibility to introduce the public of the constitutional values that come from the main values of Pancasila ideology.

“The Constitutional Court is one of the state institutions formed in the Reform and by the amendment to the 1945 Constitution as a strategic part of the constitutional system in the form of the institutionalism of Reform agendas, consisting of democracy, supremacy of the law, and guarantee of human rights and citizens’ constitutional rights,” Imam said.

Meanwhile, IP3I secretary-general Yeni Nel Ikhwan thanked the bimtek’s committee for organizing the event professionally and meticulously and providing materials—technical materials and those on judicial review of laws.

“The Pancasila and Constitution Education Center has given an opportunity and cooperation to improve the capacity and quantity as well as expand the insight of legislative drafters in the judicial review in the Constitutional Court,” she stressed.

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

Translation uploaded on 11/15/2021 13:01 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.

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