Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo delivering a keynote speech at a legal profession workshop organized by the Student Executive Body (BEM) of the Law Faculty of the University of Mataram, Tuesday (6/28/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022 | 15:41 WIB
JAKARTA, Public Relations—Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo delivering a keynote speech on “Professional Opportunities and Challenges for Judges” at a legal profession workshop on “Preparing Competitive Young Practitioners” organized by the Student Executive Body (BEM) of the Law Faculty of the University of Mataram virtually on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. He talked about the duties of constitutional justices in the Constitutional Court and encouraged the students to understand the responsibilities of constitutional justices in upholding law and justice in Indonesia.
Quoting Israeli jurist Aharon Barak, he said judges are not only tasked with resolving disputes, but also bridging the gap between law and society. With the rapid development in society, the law is often unable to keep up, so judges take on the role of making legal breakthroughs in order to create new laws, as well as filling legal vacuum through progressive decisions.
“However, the role of judges is often not realized by judges, judicial institutions, and the wider community. Judges are actually partners who, along with the legislative body, are responsible for creating laws through their respective ways and not just as mouthpieces for the law,” Justice Suhartoyo explained.
Judges’ Independence
Justice Suhartoyo then explained that part of the spirit of the Reform at the legislation level was to reform the judiciary by transferring the authority in administrative, organizational, and financial aspects from the Ministry of Justice to the Supreme Court (MA). With the enactment of the Judiciary Law, the one-roof court management came into effect and the Supreme Court also came to regulate other organizational, administrative, financial, and technical aspects of the judiciary. This change, he added, was expected to improve the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in general and judges in particular. However, later on this rule was readjusted. This change is contained in Law No. 4 of 2004 on the Judicial Power, which was further revised by Law No. 48 of 2009 on the Judicial Power. Thus, the Court along with the Supreme Court as holders of judicial power were also given instruments to support the independence of constitutional justices in carrying out their duties.
“The Constitutional Court is the highest interpreter of the Constitution. Therefore, based on Article 24C paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution, it has the authority to adjudicate at the first and final level with decisions are final to review laws against the Constitution, to settle disputes over the authority of state institutions whose powers are granted by the Constitution, decide the dissolution of political parties, and settle disputes over the results of general elections,” Justice Suhartoyo explained from the justice offices at the Constitutional Court building in Jakarta.
As part of the judiciary apparatuses, the nine constitutional justices do not hold a career position but a position of honor and statesmanship, including the positions of chief justice and deputy chief justice. These positions are not a form of promotion, but a testament to the trust their colleagues have in them to lead the constitutional justices.
Justice Suhartoyo emphasized that the judge’s profession is a mandate for upholding law and justice, which is one of the parameters for whether or not the law in a country is good. It is also a form of academic responsibility for someone who studies law. Therefore, he advised the law students of the University of Mataram to continue their studies and practice their legal knowledge and theories when they choose to be a judge.
“Law students as future judge candidates must improve their legal knowledge because the work of judges is more or less academic. Legal breakthroughs cannot be separated from the judges’ wealth of knowledge and experience. Their decisions cannot be separated from facts and academic reasoning and are supported by strong legal reasoning. Ratio decidendi is the spirit of the decision, so it must be formulated carefully and deeply. The judge’s decisions will be respected by the community and gain strong legitimacy if they have solid legal considerations. In the future, if you choose to become judges, always practice honesty, fairness, and responsibility since the beginning,” he advised.
Writer : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 6/29/2022 15:36 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.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022 | 15:41 WIB 197