Petitioners and counsel Leonardo Siahaan at the material judicial review of Law No.23 of 2004 on the Elimination of Domestic Violence, Thursday (4/14/2022). Photo by Humas MK.

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Thursday, April 14, 2022 | 14:19 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—A domestic violence case involving Ms. Valencya, convicted of domestic violence (KDRT) for scolding her drunk husband, compelled two students of the Indonesian Christian University (UKI), Sindi Enjelita Sitorus and Hesti Br Ginting, to file a judicial review petition of Law No. 23 of 2004 on the Elimination of Domestic Violence (PKDRT Law). The preliminary hearing of case No. 41/PUU-XX/2022 took place on Thursday, April 14, 2022 virtually in the plenary courtroom of the Constitutional Court (MK).

The Petitioners challenge Article 7 of the PDKRT Law, which they believe have violated their constitutional rights. The article reads, “Psychological violence as referred to in Article 5 letter b shall be any act that results in fear, loss of self-confidence, loss of ability to act, helpless feeling, and/or severe psychological suffering in a person.”

At the hearing chaired by Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih, Leonardo Siahaan, the Petitioners’ legal counsel, said Article 7 of the PDKRT Law did not provide clear definition of psychological violence, thus its interpretation could lead to debate. In addition, this potentially lead to constitutional impairment on the Petitioners.

“As an example, the case experienced by Ms. Valencya, who was named a suspect on January 11, 2021 for scolding her husband for coming home drunk. She was reported to the West Java Regional Police for a case of psychological domestic violence,” said Siahaan virtually.

He added that Article 7 of the PKDRT Law did not clearly define psychological violence, including that which can result in women being subject to lawsuit and criminalization. He asserted that the ambiguity raised concerns for the Petitioners, who feared they could be subjected to the same fate. What Ms. Valencya did, he argued, was spontaneous and not intentionally to attack the victim’s psyche.

“The Petitioners are increasingly worried about the potential loss of being treated arbitrarily for the interpretation of Article 7 of the PKDRT Law in relation to the declaration of human rights,” he said.

Degrading and insulting words that have serious consequences if carried out continuously constitue psychological violence. Based on these reasons, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare Article 7 of the PDKRT Law unconstitutional and conditionally constitutional. “As long as the phrase ‘forms of psychological violence: statements made with swear words, insults, negative labeling, or demeaning attitudes and body gestures accompanied by information about the psychological condition of a person who is a victim of psychological violence’ is added,” Siahaan said.

Justices’ Advice

In response, Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul advised the Petitioners to revise their profiles. “The Petitioners’ profiles must be clear,” he said.

He also advised them to include the touchstone(s) in the 1945 Constitution. “Because the [touchstone] acts as a guideline. The perceived constitutional impairment is judged from the [touchstone]. So there must be a [touchstone],” he advised.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat said the Petitioners needed to elaborate the background more. “It does not have to be a lot but right on target, it can be concise but right on target,” he said. He also asked the Petitioners to review Law on Sexual Violence Crimes (TPKS Law), which was just passed on April 12.

Before concluding the hearing, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih informed the Petitioners that they had 14 workdays to revise the petition until April 27, 2022.

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Andhini S. F.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 4/18/2022 09:24 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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