Chief Justice Anwar Usman speaking at a National Committee of Indonesian Youth Congress XVI national seminar at the D’Royal Building, Ternate, North Maluku with North Maluku governor Abdul Ghani Kasuba in attendance, Tuesday (5/17/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Ilham W. M.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 | 08:09 WIB
JAKARTA, Public Relations—Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Anwar Usman spoke at the nationality congress national seminar of the National Committee of Indonesian Youth (KNPI) on “Youth Synergy Indonesia Arise” on Monday, May 16, 2022 in Kalumpang, Ternate, North Maluku Province. Justice Anwar, who spoke at the seminar onsite, said that a nation can become great and powerful depending on its journey.
“If every era and phase of the nation’s journey continues and undergoes changes for the better and reforms are carried out, it is only a matter of time for a nation to achieve greatness. On the other hand, if the nation’s sustainability cannot be maintained, the nation and state will not progress, and could even face destruction,” he said.
Therefore, he emphasized, in order to maintain sustainability, regeneration must absolutely be carried out. “One of the efforts that can be done in maintaining regeneration is to inculcate and understand the basic values of law and Constitution for the next generation of the nation, youth and students, as initiated by the committee of the Youth Congress XVI of KNPI through this event,” he said.
Justice Anwar also said that as a big nation, we should be grateful because our journey is plural. We have had many experiences. Our nation’s history has recorded the various roles of students and youth, who are the nation’s asset. In fact, the independence and democracy that we enjoy today cannot be separated from the role and progress of students and youth, who have always been present and taken an important part in every opportunity. Since the colonial era until the current government, the role of students and youth has never been separated from their era.
Constitutional Court’s Founding
Justice Anwar also explained that the idea of the Constitutional Court in Indonesia had actually started during the discussion of the 1945 Constitution. It was initiated by Muhammad Yamin who, during the discussion of the draft constitution by the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Works for Independence (BPUPKI), talked about the importance of a judicial institution that has the power to review laws.
However, the idea was rejected for several reasons. First, Indonesia had just become independent, so there were not many law graduates. Second, the task of the judge is to apply the law, not to review the law. Third, the authority of judges to review laws is contrary to the concept of the supremacy of the MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly). Fourth, Indonesia did not believe in trias politica, but in the distribution of power.
Justice Anwar further explained that during the discussion to amend the 1945 Constitution in the Reform era, this idea had reappeared. It received positive responses and became one of the materials for the amendment to the Constitution, which was decided by the MPR. After going through a process of in-depth, careful, and democratic discussion, finally the idea became a reality with the ratification of Article 24 paragraph (2) and Article 24C of the 1945 Constitution as part of the third amendment at the 2001 MPR Annual Session on November 9, 2001.
"The amendment to the 1945 Constitution were quite vast in terms of quantity and substance, as described above. If we look at the changes, there was one very important content material: the special inclusion of Human Rights in Chapter XA. Although the regulation of human rights was not only contained in Chapter XA of the 1945 Constitution, the specific placement and regulation provided a strong indication that the state really wanted to guarantee the protection of constitutional rights for its citizens,” he said.
In line with that, Justice Anwar added, the establishment of the Constitutional Court in the amendment of the 1945 Constitution in 1999–2002, was also aimed at safeguarding the guarantee of the citizens’ constitutional rights. In this context, the Constitutional Court is tasked with overseeing so that the guarantee of the citizens’ constitutional rights can be guaranteed through the enactment of a law as outlined in the 1945 Constitution.
Writer : Utami Argawati
Editor : Nur R.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 5/18/2022 13:13 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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