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Tuesday, July 5, 2022 | 15:53 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) and its decisions have contributed to the development of law with regard to how the law is implemented. Nearing its 19th anniversary, it has also been an epicenter of the development and discussion of constitutional law in Indonesia, said Head of the Public Relations and National Affairs Department Fajar Laksono Suroso on the second day of the Technical Assistance Program on the Procedural Law for Judicial Review for Legal Analysts Batch I, organized by the Constitutional Court’s Pancasila and Constitution Education Center (Pusdik MK), on Tuesday, July 5, 2022.

He revealed that before the Constitutional Court became part of the judiciary, constitutional law had been an unpopular subject in universities. However, after the Court was founded, it became increasingly popular. Its dynamics started attracting many.

“It is undeniable that through its decisions, the Court led to new theories and new legal perspectives in the legal discourse in Indonesia,” he said in his presentation on “The Constitutional Court and the Characteristics of Its Procedural Law” virtually from the second building of the Constitutional Court in Jakarta.

Also read: Technical Assistance on Procedural Law for Judicial Review Necessary for Legal Analysts

Improvement of Constitution

Next, former constitutional justice for 2003–2008 and 2015–2020 I Dewa Gede Palguna delivered a presentation on “Constitutional Interpretation.” Before the legal analysts from central and regional institutions, he said that constitutional interpretation could also part of improving the Constitution since it includes elaborating the Constitution. It not only covers matching events, things, or situations with the articles or provisions in the Constitution, but also seeking answers to questions in viewing the Constitution and the objectives of norms to realize.

“Therefore, constitutional interpretation is a mechanism to ensure that the Constitution has been implemented and in line with the intents within it and the goals it intends to realize,” Palguna added.

Constitutional Court’s Legislative Role in Judicial Review

Next, Constitutional Court substitute registrar Mardian Wibowo shared his knowledge and experience in a presentation on “The Procedural Law for Judicial Review of Laws against the 1945 Constitution.” He said the Court’s judicial review authority had once been restricted by Article 50 of the Constitutional Court Law. However, in keeping with the legal needs, the provision was changed so that the Constitutional Court could perform judicial review following the provision of Article 22A of the 1945 Constitution.

“Not all laws can be reviewed be cause only laws delegated based on Article 22A of the 1945 Constitution can be reviewed formally by the Constitutional Court. This was because the 1945 Constitution did not regulate the formation of [government regulations in lieu of laws (perppu)]. Thus, the detailed was left to the [Lawmaking Law], which the Court used as a secondary touchstone for formal review. Meanwhile, only the 1945 Constitution is used as touchstone in material review,” Mardian said.

He then discussed the Constitutional Court’s legislative role in judicial review. He believed the Court had three roles within it. First, it can be said to be a negative legislator, in that it can annul an entire norm; or change the norm by eliminating certain words, phrases, or sentences in any article or paragraph. The elimination of any words or phrases from an article can result in a change to its meaning, he added.

Second, the Court is a positive legislator, in that it can change a norm by adding certain words or phrases to any article or paragraph or by interpreting it differently without changing its form. Third, the Court has an affirmative role. In simple terms, it can reject a judicial review petition so that no changes occur on any norm challenged in the petition.

The program, set to take place for four days on Monday-Thursday, July 4‒7, 2022, was attended by 400 participants. The participants received materials on the Constitution, the Constitutional Court, the procedural law for judicial review, and the drafting of judicial review petition. Former constitutional justices, substitute registrars, and other speakers would deliver presentations.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 7/6/2022 15:12 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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