Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto with Constitutional Justices Suhartoyo and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh entering the panel courtroom for the preliminary hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 3 of 2022 on the State Capital, Monday (4/25/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.
Monday, April 25, 2022 | 12:55 WIB
JAKARTA, Public Relations—After petitioners of various occupations challenged Law No. 3 of 2022 on the State Capital (IKN Law) to Constitutional Court (MK), this time a teacher named Anah Mardianah challenged the IKN Law. The preliminary hearing for case No. 53/PUU-XX/2022 took place on Monday, April 25, 2022, presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto alongside Constitutional Justices Suhartoyo and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh.
The Petitioner’s legal counsel Reza Setiawan stated that the House of Representatives (DPR) as the legislature and the president as the executive have the right to propose a bill. For a Law to be ratified, it must first be discussed and approved by the House and the president. Article 20 of the 1945 Constitution stipulates the legislative and executive authority to ratify laws that regulate the lives of the people. This, he added, is in line with Article 1 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution. As such, the lawmaking objective and process must be carried out by the House and the president together.
“So, a Law must be formed in order to guarantee legal certainty and justice, and to create order and welfare for all Indonesians, not only for certain groups or individuals. Thus, the Law must meet a strict and detailed procedure. If [the procedure is not met], then the Law can be said to be formally flawed. So, it is appropriate that the Court declare that the a quo law formally flawed and not legally binding,” Reza said.
In the petition, the Petitioner revealed that on January 18, the House officially declared the IKN Bill part of the 2020 National Legislative Program (Prolegnas). However, before it was passed, there was push back from the provincial and local governments, which was disregarded by the central government and the House. On February 15, the president passed the IKN Law. This, the Petitioner believes, show that it took less than a month for the a quo Law to be passed since it entered the Prolegnas. As such, it did not involve the people. Therefore, the Petitioner requested that the Court declare the formation of the IKN Law unconstitutional.
Legal Standing
In response to the petition, Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo advised the Petitioners to elaborate his legal standing and the factual relation between the Petitioner’s impairment and the enactment of the a quo Law. Next, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh stated that the Petitioner needed to consider his legal standing as the first step of the petition. His legal standing as a taxpayer must be reconsidered. He also asked the Petitioner’s involvement in the formation of the a quo Law. “If possible, there should be accurate data on what happens in Sintang, West Kalimantan, while the state capital will be in East Kalimantan. Are the characteristics of [both regions] the same? Or is the area for the [state capital] peatland, which will lead to the same results?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto requested that the Petitioner complete the evidence showing the lack of public participation in the formation of the a quo Law. “Please also find out the 45-day deadline since the Law was promulgated until the filing of this case to the Court so that it can be categorized as a formal judicial review [petition],” he said.
Before concluding the hearing, Justice Aswanto said that the Petitioner had 14 workdays to revise the petition and must submit it to the Registrar’s Office by Monday, May 9. The schedule for the next hearing would be informed at a later date.
Writer : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Nur R.
PR : Muhammad Halim
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 4/26/2022 11:46 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.
Monday, April 25, 2022 | 12:55 WIB 214