Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo speaking at the special education for professional advocates by the West Jakarta Peradi and Bhayangkara University of Jakarta Raya, Saturday (8/6/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Hamdi.

---

Saturday, August 6, 2022 | 20:46 WIB

JAKARTA—The Constitutional Court’s (MK) authority in the event of impeachment of the president and/or vice president if they are proven to have violated the law is indirect, unlike its legally binding decisions in cases of judicial review and general or regional elections. This is because the must be brought to the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the House of Representatives (DPR) to be discussed. Therefore, in essence, the Court is obliged to give a decision on the House’s opinion regarding alleged violation by the president and/or vice president according to the 1945 Constitution.

The statement was made by Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo to the question posed by Renaldo Sihotang at the special education for professional advocates (PKPA) Batch XIX organized by the West Jakarta branch executive board (DPC) of the Association of Indonesian Advocates in collaboration with Bhayangkara University of Jakarta Raya (Ubhara Jaya) on Saturday, August 6, 2022.

“When a Constitutional Court decision on impeachment is read out, there is further process by the House and the MPR. Therefore, it should be noted that the Court’s authorities have different characters, including on impeachment,” he said.

At the virtual and onsite lecture, Justice Suhartoyo delivered a presentation on “Litigating in the Constitutional Court.” He explained the legal basis for the establishment of the Constitutional Court, i.e. Article 24 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. This provision granted the Constitutional Court its authorities and obligation as a judicial institution. The Court then was granted the authority to review government regulations in lieu of laws (perppu), as they lead to new legal norms that are as similarly binding as laws.

Justice Suhartoyo then described in detail the Court’s authority to review laws and the terms and conditions to file a petition. He also explained the judicial review proceedings at the Constitutional Court, starting from filing petition, preliminary hearing, examination hearings, to ruling pronouncement. He also explained the Court’s authority in resolving disputes over the authority of state institutions, disputes over the results of general and regional elections, and the dissolution of political parties. 

Understand All Procedural Laws

In the Q&A session, one of virtual participants, Egi Setiawan, asked about the constitutional justices’ bases in their legal considerations. Justice Suhartoyo explained that it was related to how the constitutional impairment experienced by the Petitioner due to the enactment of a law was described in the petition. He believed the petition must first be clear and explain the correlation between the constitutional impairment and the norm being petitioned so that the justices can provide clear legal considerations.

Before concluding his lecture, Justice Suhartoyo encouraged the law students and prospective advocates to master all procedural laws because they are a must-needed weapon for advocates to ‘fight’ for their clients’ rights.

“If you want to be an advocate, you must master all procedural laws. If you don’t master them, it would be like going to war without any weapon. If you can’t fight with the appropriate procedural law, [you] could weaken the evidence. Remember, once appointed as advocates, [law] students become law enforcers. In other words, [you] are equal to other law enforcers such as judges, prosecutors, and police. So, if you don’t master procedural laws, you will surely lose in the fight for [your clients’] rights. So, master all procedural laws,” he advised. 

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 8/10/2022 12:02 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.

---