Petitioners for case No. 54/PUU-XX/2022 at the judicial review hearing of Law No. 3 of 2022 on the State Capital, Monday (4/25/2022). Photo by Humas MK/BPE.

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Monday, April 25, 2022 | 12:09 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) held another preliminary hearing for the formal judicial review of Law No. 3 of 2022 on the State Capital (IKN Law) on Monday, April 25, 2022. The case No. 54/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by M. Busyro Muqoddas, Trisno Raharjo, Yati Dahlia, Dwi Putri Cahyawati, the Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), and the Indonesian Forum for Living Environment (WALHI) (Petitioners I-VI).

Legal counsel Ermelina Singareta, representing the Petitioners, stated that the IKN Law was formed without any meaningful participation as referred to in the Constitutional Court Decision No. 91/PUU-XVIII/2020.

“This can be seen from the formulation process of Law No. 3 of 2022 which was very short. The presidential letter for the IKN Bill was issued on September 29, 2021, followed by an introduction in the DPR on November 3, 2021, then a plenary session for discussion level 2 or decision-making [to stipulate the bill] into law on January 18, 2022. Excluding the recess, the discussion of Law No. 3 of 2022 only took place for 17 days,” she said virtually before the bench chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto.

She further explained that the Law had not involved those who had concerns, such as Petitioners I, II, and IV. They are people with vast and strategic opinions and perspectives on the state capital, who should have been involved in the formulation of the Law.

In addition, she added, the customary law community in the new capital location, who would be directly impacted, were also not involved. “The results of the identification of the customary law community in the IKN area in the academic text of the IKN bill show that there are at least 7 indigenous ethnic groups in the IKN-to-be area, while the rest are immigrants of various ethnic groups (Javanese, Buginese, Banjarese, etc.) in Indonesia. The identified indigenous ethnic groups are1) Paser, 2) Kutai, 3) Bajau, 4) Dayak Basap, 5) Dayak Kenyah, 6) Dayak Benuaq, and 7) Suku Dayak Tunjung peoples. Moreover, referring to the academic text, there are two potential socio-economic impacts on the people who leave in the IKN-to-be area, that is, the loss of livelihood and residence,” Singareta explained.

In the petition, the Petitioners also asserted that the formation of the IKN Law was against the principles of usefulness and effectiveness. They believe that every legislation should be created on the basis of real needs and usefulness for regulating the life of the people, nation, and state.

Thus, based on those reasons, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare the IKN Law unconstitutional and not legally binding.

Justices’ Advice

In response to the petition, Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul advised the Petitioners to revise the format of the petition to follow the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) Regulation No. 2 of 2021. “[The PMK] explains the formal and material requirements for the judicial review of law. The format of the petition is laid out there,” he said.

He also advised the Petitioners to explain their legal standing more concretely, in relation to their alleged constitutional impairment. 

Similarly, Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra advised that the Petitioners justify their legal standing. “Each Petitioner must explain whether they are directly affected or concerned [by the enactment of the law] or both. This must be elaborated in the [explanation on] legal standing, so it shows the relations between the Petitioners and the formal judicial review petition,” he explained.

He also requested that they observe the Decision No. 91/PUU-XVIII/2020 once more. “I hope the 53 people have really studied the Constitutional Court Decision No. 91/PUU-XVIII/2020. Why? Because the decision explains the lawmaking process,” he asserted.

Before concluding the hearing, Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto informed the Petitioners that they had 14 workdays to revise the petition and were to submit it to the Registrar’s Office by May 9, 2022.

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

Translation uploaded on 4/26/2022 10:11 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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