Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto and Head of the Public Relations and National Affairs Department Fajar Laksono receiving audience with LLDikti Region IX on the implementation of code of ethics in the Constitutional Court, Tuesday (12/7/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Ilham W. M.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2021 | 10:01 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto received audience with the Higher Education Service Institute (LLDikti) Region IX on Tuesday, December 7, 2021 in the Constitutional Court (MK). Among the delegation was H. A. Muin Fahmal.

At the beginning of the audience, Justice Aswanto explained that in 2017 the Court formed the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) due to an allegation of a serious violation of the code of ethics and the code of conduct for constitutional justices. The MKMK consists of constitutional justices, the Judicial Commission, the House of Representatives (DPR), the Government, and the Supreme Court. It has the authority to dismiss any constitutional justice who has committed a serious violation.

He added that Law No. 24 of 2003 and Law No. 8 of 2011 on the Constitutional Court mention the MKMK, which formed the Constitutional Court’s ethics council. “The ethics council consists of a former constitutional justice, a community figure, and an academic, one each. I happened to be on the selection team for the first ethics council,” he reminisced.

Not Supervisor

Head of the Public Relations and National Affairs Department Fajar Laksono Soeroso in the audience said that the Constitutional Court designed the MKMK. A violation led to the establishment of the MKMK. Since then, the Court saw the need for an institution that would serve to guard the honor of constitutional justices—the ethics council.

“The ethics council is not a supervisor. It does not monitor the constitutional justices, but guard their honor and dignity. Guarding [honor] and supervising are two different things. The constitutional justices do not need supervision, but are guarded not to get close to forbidden things,” Fajar said.

For the past few years, he revealed, the ethics council receives complaints from two channels. First, from news in the media relating to the constitutional justices. Second, from reports of ethical violation to the council of violations by the constitutional justices.

“The complaints in 2020 are more about the public not being satisfied with the Court’s decisions. So, not about the constitutional justices’ conduct, violations of code of ethics, but more about [their] grievance, especially those litigating in the Court,” Fajar explained.

At the moment, due to Law No. 7 of 2020, the Court is undergoing a transition and preparing several things, such as the regulation of the MKMK. 

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

Translation uploaded on 12/21/2021 09:26 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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