Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto delivering a public lecture at the APMD Village Community Development College, Yogyakarta, Friday (5/27/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Hendy.
Saturday, May 28, 2022 | 07:52 WIB
YOGYAKARTA, Public Relations—Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto delivered a public lecture on “Understanding the Constitution’s Position in the State Life” at the APMD Village Community Development College, Yogyakarta, on Friday afternoon, May 27, 2022.
“One of [the Constitutional Court’s] activities is raising awareness to all Indonesian people about the Constitution. However, we do not have the ability to reach all corners of Indonesia. Therefore, hopefully this momentum is followed up by cooperation so that our efforts to raise constitutional awareness for all Indonesian people can reach more people,” he said.
He also expressed gratitude that the Court’s constitution village program in a number of regions in Indonesia had received attention from the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions,
and Transmigration; Ministry of Agriculture; and Ministry of Environment and Forestry. These ministries would like to join in the program.
Definition of Constitution
Justice Aswanto began his lecture by stating that a constitution is a collection of norms that regulate authorities and the institutions that will carry out those authorities to realize a just society.
“If you read the literature, the constitution is classified into the written and unwritten constitutions. Almost all countries have written constitutions, except for the UK and Canada, so that their basis in carrying out their duties and authorities is customary laws that exist there and documents that are not included in the constitution,” he explained.
Three constitutions have been in force in Indonesia in four periods. The first was the first document of the 1945 Constitution, passed on August 18, 1945. Many things were not covered in it, including the guarantee of human rights. That is why the 1949 Constitution of the Republic of the United States of Indonesia (RIS) replaced it. However, it still had many issues, among them the state goals and how to realize them and who are responsible for it. Thus, legislative, executive, and judicial institutions were formed to realize the state goals.
“Then, the RIS Constitution was replaced by the Provisional Constitution of 1950. Many things were debated by the founders. The nation’s desire was a just and prosperous society. That is why the independence was a golden bridge. It was not the goal, but a path to a just and prosperous society. There must be guidelines to make it happen. Those guidelines were then regulated, normalized in the Constitution. So, the Constitution is essentially guidelines for the state, rules for the state,” Justice Aswanto explained.
After that, on July 5, 1959 a presidential decree was issued, replacing the Provisional Constitution of 1950 with the 1945 Constitution. One of the most intense topic for debate was the issue of human rights. Guarantee of human rights, especially women’s rights, had not been optimal in the Provisional Constitution of 1950. As a result, President Soekarno decided to return to the 1945 Constitution.
Amendment to the 1945 Constitution
After several years, the debate over the Constitution did not die until the amendment to the 1945 Constitution from 1999-2002, during which a new state institution—the Constitutional Court—was proposed to be an executor of judicial power. This was laid out in Law No. 24 of 2003 on the Constitutional Court, which was amended to Law No. 8 of 2011, amended again to Law No. 7 of 2020.
“The Constitutional Court’s roles and functions are to serve as the guardian of the Constitution, the guardian of the state ideology Pancasila, the guardian of democracy, the guardian of human rights, and the final interpreter of the Constitution. These functions are enshrined in the Constitution and grant authorities to the Constitutional Court,” Justice Aswanto said.
Therefore, he added, in carrying out its duties, the Court has a main authority to examine laws against the Constitution. It also has the authority to decide on disputes between state institutions, the dissolution of political parties, disputes over the results of the presidential and legislative elections. It is also obliged to decide on the opinion of the House of Representatives (DPR) if the president and/or vice president are suspected of having violated the law. In addition, it has an additional authority to decide disputes over regional head election results until a special court is formed to handle them.
Writer : Nano Tresna Arfana
Editor : Nur R.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 5/30/2022 14:39 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.
Saturday, May 28, 2022 | 07:52 WIB 282