Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah delivering his remarks to the students of Constitutional and Administrative Law study program of Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Wednesday (8/10/2021). Photo by Humas MK/Bayu.

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Wednesday, August 10, 2022 | 16:59 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI)—Forty-three students of the Constitutional and Administrative Law study program of the Law Faculty of Hasanuddin University (HTN-HAN FH Unhas), Makassar visited the Constitutional Court (MK) as part of their field study to state institutions in Jakarta. The students, who arrived alongside constitutional and administrative law professor Achmad Ruslan and lecturer Muhammad Zulfan Hakim, were welcomed by Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah and researcher Mohammad Mahrus Ali at the hall of the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

In his remarks, Guntur revealed the history of the founding of the study program as one of the manifestation of bureaucratic reform values that are expected to be on an international scale. Thus, outstanding human resources are needed. He advised the students to apply several principles to become outstanding human beings.

“INDEP values must be implemented: integrity, discipline, dedication, and professionalism. We must continuously upgrade our skills,” he said.

Next, researcher Mohammad Mahrus Ali talked about “The Protection of Citizens’ Constitutional Rights Amid Pandemic.” The Constitutional Court through Decision No. 37/PUU-XVIII/2020 ruled on a case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic over the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No, 1 of 2020, issued on March 2020 and passed as Law No. 2 of 2020 on May 18, 2020.

The provision, Mahrus said, was passed by the president due to the compelling crisis situation in line with Article 22 of the 1945 Constitution. Eight petitions have been filed to the Constitutional Court to challenge the norm formally and materially. The reason behind this is that because the pandemic has led to layoffs in various business sectors, cessation of export and import, which impacted the financial sector and led to the decline of company profitability and solvency.

The Court ruled the provision constitutional because during the pandemic, the public could not participate directly in lawmaking. Thus, public participation through conventional methods were declared irrelevant during the COVID-19 pandemic. The formal review petition was then declared legally groundless.

Citizens’ Constitutional Rights

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Constitutional Court continued to carry out its duties in guarding the Constitution and the citizens’ constitutional rights through remote hearings. It did not immediately halt its services, but was instead even more active in conducting online hearings by utilizing smart board mini courtrooms in 53 locations throughout Indonesia, Mahrus said to answer a question from Khairina Amalia.

Next, Ananda Faturrahman asked about the Court’s authority to settle authority disputes between state institutions. Mahrus explained that based on its procedural law, the Court cannot refuse any petition, including that against the Constitutional Court Law. As long as any citizens who claim their constitutional rights are disadvantaged by any law then file a petition, the Court cannot refuse it. He also added that the Constitutional Court can rule over authority dispute between itself and another state institution, though it has never done so.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 8/16/2022 14:06 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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