House Commission III member Adang Daradjatun handing over a token to Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah after focus group discussion on “The Urgency of the Wiretapping Bill in Law Enforcement System Based on Due Process of Law” by the House Commission III, Wednesday (12/15/2021) at the Ritz-Carlton, Jakarta. Photo by Humas MK.

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Thursday, December 16, 2021 | 09:31 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah expressed appreciation for the House of Representatives (DPR) in the preparation for the discussion and formation of the Wiretapping Law. He said this when talking at the focus group discussion (FGD) on “The Urgency of the Wiretapping Bill in Law Enforcement System Based on Due Process of Law” by the House Commission III on Wednesday afternoon, December 15, 2021 at the Ritz-Carlton, Jakarta. “[I] would like to express the highest appreciation for the House’s efforts in preparing for the discussion and formation of the Wiretapping Law,” he said.

He believes this effort is in line with the Court’s decision that mandated the legislatures to form a comprehensive Wiretapping Law.

At the FGD, Guntur talked about “Wiretapping Authority and Regulation in Accordance with the Constitution and Human Rights.” In his presentation, he mentioned that there are at least five judicial review decisions on provisions on wiretapping.

Three of them are related to Law No. 30 of 2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission: Decisions No. 006/PUU-I/2003, 012-016-019/PUU-IV/2006, and 60/PUU-VIII/2010. The two others are related to Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT): Decisions No. 5/PUU-VIII/2010 and 20/PUU-XIV/2016.

Out of them, only the two decisions on EIT Law were granted. “What is encouraging about those decisions is that all norm changes they caused have been accommodated by the legislatures through the amendment to the EIT Law,” he said.

However, the constitutional order of the formation of a comprehensive law on wiretapping has not been accommodated yet. “As we see, there is real effort to carry out the constitutional mandate. One of them is by organizing this FGD,” he added.

Human Rights

In his presentation, Guntur also said that wiretapping is a violation of the right to privacy, which is against the Constitution. However, the right to privacy is a derogable right, which can be restricted for important purposes such as law enforcement. “However, such restrictions must be subject to Article 28J paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, which can only be carried out by law,” he said.

Guntur mentioned the need to refer to the Court’s decisions that provide guidelines on the restriction to human rights that are in line with the Constitution, as referred to in Decisions No. 011-017/PUU-I/2003, 008/PUU-II/2004, and 33/PUU-XIII/2015. Furthermore, those decisions provide interpretation of Article 28J paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution regarding the restriction to human rights through law.

Guntur then detailed those restrictions in relation to the Wiretaping Bill. Human rights restrictions in the form of wiretapping are carried out in a comprehensive manner regulated by a separate law as determined by the Constitutional Court. The wiretapping authority must be granted based on strong, reasonable, and proportionate reasons, and must not be excessive. Furthermore, wiretapping is carried out to ensure the recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others. Guntur also said that wiretapping arrangements and processes are carried out to fulfill fair demands in accordance with morality, religious values, security, and public order in a democratic society. He emphasized that the regulation on wiretapping should not be discriminatory.

Guntur concluded that lawmaking take into account the Constitutional Court’s decisions. “The constitutional guidelines as referred to in the Court’s decisions must be taken into account in the formulation and discussion of the Wiretapping Law,” he said.

House Commission III and MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly) Deputy Speaker Arsul Sani, Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for Non-Judicial Affairs Andi Samsan Nganro, and the Head of the House’s Board of Expertise Inosentius Samsul were also panelists at the FGD. The commission’s partners were also in attendance: the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, the KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission), the Center for Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), etc. The FGD was part of the Commission’s effort to collect inputs and recommendations from stakeholders to inform the Wiretapping Bill.

Writer        : FLS
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 12/22/2021 07:37 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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