Chief Justice Anwar Usman officially opening the Registrar’s Office meeting, Thursday (11/18/2021) in Yogyakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.
Friday, November 19, 2021 | 10:04 WIB
YOGYAKARTA, Public Relations—Improvements to the weaknesses in the resolution and handling of cases of judicial review (PUU), interagency authority disputes (SKLN), and regional head election disputes (PHPKada) are part of the evaluation to improve the quality of support for the constitutional justices in resolving cases, said Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Anwar Usman at the opening of the Registrar’s Office Meeting on “Evaluation and Improvement of Support for Constitutional Justices to Resolve PUU, SKLN, and PHPKada Cases” on Thursday evening, November 18, 2021 in Yogyakarta.
“The evaluation in question, starting from receiving petitions, receiving case files, case registration, hearing scheduling, summoning litigants, hearings, to the preparation of draft decisions, are things that must be evaluated together. This is important for us, so that an organization of judicial institution we always motivate ourselves to improve performance in order to provide the best services to the public who seek justice in the Constitutional Court,” he explained.
Development of Court’s Procedural Law
The business process in the judiciary is illustrated in the procedural law, which serves as guidelines for the litigants. This holds true with the Constitutional Court. Since its inception in 2003, the Court’s procedural law has been regulated in general in the Constitutional Court Law, and in more detail in the Constitutional Court Regulations (PMKs). There have been efforts and discussions on the importance of rearranging the Court’s procedural law and its placement in a separate law. However, they did not lead to any specific regulation.
“The developments of the Court’s procedural law actually occurred through hearings and decisions issued by the Court. This has been done by the early constitutional justices until today. These developments through practice and decisions are not the Court’s will, but serve to fill legal vacuums and to provide protection to the citizens’ constitutional rights,” the chief justice said.
Bridge for Litigants
Justice Anwar further elaborated on the importance of procedural law. There is an expression that substantive law or material law can only be enforced through formal law (procedural law) that is fair and provides legal certainty for litigants.
“The procedural law is like a bridge for litigants to reach the justice they want to achieve. Without procedural law that provides fair legal certainty, it is impossible for material law to be enforced because there is no special law that regulates the Court’s procedural law and in order to complement the provisions of procedural law in the Constitutional Court Law, PMKs on procedural law have been drafted,” he said.
He said, PMKs on procedural law are not rigid, unlike other procedural laws. Therefore, both old and new PMKs on procedural law are guidelines for litigants. In certain situations, it is possible that the panel of justices hold deliberation to take certain steps, when Anwar said, PMK regarding procedural law is not formal (rigid), like other procedural laws. Therefore, in both the old PMK and the new PMK on procedural law, it is a guideline and guide for litigants. Even in certain situations, it is possible that the Panel of Judges must hold deliberation to take certain paths or steps, when developments in the trial require new things, in accordance with the dynamics of the trial hearings require innovations.
Discussion of 3 PMK Drafts
Theoretically, Justice Anwar said, procedural law is a product of the lawmaking process or is the responsibility of lawmakers in the legislatures. However, theoretically, the development of procedural law in practice (law-applying) also has a justifiable legal reasoning basis. Ideally, the two should be able to go hand in hand and complement each other in order to create fair legal certainty for every citizen who strives to seek justice.
“Today, in order to improve the quality of services and support in resolving cases, we will discuss three draft Constitutional Court Regulations (PMK), namely a PMK on the procedure for formal judicial review, a PMK on the procedure for material judicial review, and a PMK on the Constitutional Court’s ethics council. Hopefully the discussion will achieve the results we all hoped for,” he stressed.
Background of Evaluation
Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah explained the background of the evaluation. He first revealed the Court’s statistics of the cases it has decided in 2020-2021.
“In 2020 until November 2021, the Court has decided on 89 judicial review cases in 2020, 71 judicial review cases in January-November 2021, 1 SKLN case in January-November 2021, 151 PHPKada cases in 2020-2021,” he said.
He explained that the Constitutional Court Registrar’s Office and Secretariat General have an important role in providing support to the constitutional justices in handling cases. The case handling process is guided by Law No. 24 of 2003, PMKs, and the Regulation of the Chief Constitutional Justice.
“Evaluation on each process, task, support, infrastructure for each element in the Constitutional Court’s case handling is necessary to improve and ensure the quality of support for the Court’s performance in the future,” he said.
The Decision No. 79/PUU-XVII/2019 confirms the 60 workday deadline for formal judicial review since the case is recorded in the constitutional case registration book (BRPK). In addition, the Court has compiled a PMK on the procedure for formal judicial review and one the procedure for material judicial review. In addition, in relation to the code of ethics and behavior of constitutional justices, the Constitutional Court Law regulates the ethics council, an instrument formed by the Court to monitor, examine, and recommend actions against constitutional justices who are suspected of violating code of ethics and conduct.
Writer : Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor : Nur R.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 11/22/2021 09:02 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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