Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat and President of the Constitutional Court of Turkey Zühtü Arslan discussing the draft of the CCJ-OIC Statute in Ankara, Turkey, Friday afternoon (12/17/2021). Photo by Humas MK.

---

Sunday, December 19, 2021 | 10:35 WIB

ANKARA, Public Relations—As part of the working committee of the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (CCJ-OIC), the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) made an official visit to the Constitutional Court of Turkey (CCT). The MKRI delegation led by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat was welcomed by the CCT President Zühtü Arslan on Friday, December 17, 2021 in Ankara.

Justice Arief opened the discussion by saying that the visit was intended to be a discussion of the technical and substantive matters of the CCJ-OIC working committee as a follow-up on the Bandung Declaration. The delegations of the MKRI and the CCT agreed to delay the committee’s meeting—originally slated for December 22, 2021 in Islamabad, Pakistan—until February 2022 so that all members could attend. Both hoped that the delay would allow Indonesia, Gambia, and Algeria to attend it.

Afterward, the draft of the CCJ-OIC’s statute was discussed. The CCT stated that they had reviewed the proposed draft by the MKRI and expressed interest in and support for the clause relating to fighting Islamophobia. The CCT asserted that the organization must project a positive image to the world to fight against negative views of Islam.

Both constitutional courts also exchanged their views on the plan to establish a permanent secretariat. Justice Arief said that, reflecting on the AACC’s (Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions) success, a permanent secretariat would be a crucial drive for the organization. The CCT responded by suggesting that the idea must receive a unanimous decision. Judge Arslan asserted that there could be either a permanent secretariat or a rotating one among the members. This must be discussed by the committee in order to get a satisfactory result for all members.

He stressed that the MKRI and the CCT must collaborate to develop the organization. “I believe collaboration between the Constitutional Court of Indonesia and the Constitutional Court of Turkey would be significant in international organizations such as the AACC [and] may continue in the CCJ-OIC,” he said.

Concluding the discussion, both the MKRI and the CCT agreed that in the CCJ-OIC’s statute, the new organization must be widely publicized to the world. In addition, they agreed that it should be independent and impartial.

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

Translation uploaded on 12/20/2021 10:14 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.

---