Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat speaking at a national seminar by the Law Faculty of Diponegoro University and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Tuesday (12/21/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

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Tuesday, December 21, 2021 | 15:37 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat spoke virtually at a national seminar on “Public Dissemination Understanding Statelessness Situation in Indonesia through Baseline Survey Project in 2021” by the Law Faculty of Diponegoro University and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday, December 21, 2021.

In his presentation about “The Legal Politics of Citizenship in Indonesia,” he said there are three types of legal politics in relation to law enforcement strategies: ideal, basic, and instrumental. The ideal legal politics in Indonesia is enshrined in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution, which is realized in the state ideology, Pancasila. It is ideal because of its permanence. Any change to it would change and even dissolve the state as proclaimed on August 17, 1945. Therefore, when the 1945 Constitution was amended in 1999-2002, the Preamble was not changed by the MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly). Instead, only the articles of the 1945 Constitution were amended.

Next, the basic legal politics concerns the policy directions contained in the articles of the 1945 Constitution, which apply semi-permanently. He believes that, although the articles in the 1945 Constitution can be changed, the change should not be frequent. “Because if it could be changed frequently, then the products of regulations under the 1945 Constitution must also be changed and adapted to the changes made to the 1945 Constitution. This is because in the legal structure there is consistency, coherence, and correspondence,” he explained.

Meanwhile, instrumental legal politics is the laws made by the House of Representatives (DPR) and the president. This legal politics elaborates the basic legal politics with its temporary nature, so it can be amended following the times and the people’s needs. As such, laws can be said to be the instrument to carry out the social and state life.

The legal politics of citizenship in Indonesia is enshrined in Article 26 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. It divides residents into three: citizens, population, and foreign nationals. The norm is implemented in Article 4 of Law No. 12 of 2006 on Citizens, which regulates who become Indonesian citizens (WNI). Justice Arief revealed that Indonesia upholds two citizenship principles: ius sanguinis and ius solli. Both apply when a minor (under 18 years) doesn’t have a clear citizenship but was born in Indonesia, allowing them to become a citizen under the Citizenship Law.

This is related to the Court Decision No. 80/PUU-XIV/2016 on the Citizenship Law, petitioned by Ira Hartini Natapradja Hamel, a child born to an Indonesian citizen and a foreign national, who was denied selection into the Paskibraka (national flag-hoisting team). In the decision, the Court stresses that any such a person who is under 18 years of age or has not married must apply for citizenship because Indonesia only recognizes single citizenship (apatride). However, dual citizenship is allowed when it concerns a minor born to an Indonesian citizen and a foreign national, and only with registration to authorized officials.

At the seminar, panelists Bitung mayor Maurits Mantiri talked about “Stateless Persons in Bitung: Problems and Resolutions” while the Director-General of Population and Civil Registry of the Home Ministry Zudan Arif Fakhrulloh talked about “Identifying Statelessness in Indonesia.”

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

Translation uploaded on 12/23/2021 10:15 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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